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B ADD AGE,
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SCIENCE ' 7*.

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REFLECTIONS

ON THE

DECLINE OF SCIENCE IN ENGLAND,

AND ON ^

SOME OF ITS CAUSES.

CHARLES BABBAGE, ESQ.

LUCASIAN PROFESSOR OP MATBEHATICS IN THE UNIVERSITY OP CAMBRIDGE,

AND MEHRER OP SEVERAL ACADEMIES.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR B. FELLOWES, LUDGATE STREET;

AND }. BOOTH, DUKE STREET, PORTLAND TtACE.

1830.

Pl*«i

q I 1 1 1 ^mmm^

«,
• \

LONDON :

I'RINTCD BV R. CLAY BREAD-STREET-HILL, CHEAI'SIOC.

■^iiw-»**i""i«^

DEDICATION.

-1

\
I

Had I intended to dedicate this Volume, I should
have inscribed it to a Nohleman whose exertions in
promoting every object that can advance science
reflect lustre upon his rank. But the kindness of
Jus nature might have been pained at having his

name connected with strictures, perhaps too severely
just. I shall, therefore, abstain from mentiofdng
the name of one who will feel that he has com^
numded my esteem and respect.

C. BABBAGE.

Dorset Steeet, j

Manchester Sqcare, |

29th /fpril, \S»0. [

PREFACE.

Of the causes which have induced me to print this
volume I have little to say ; my own opinion is, that it
will ultimately do some service to science, and without
that belief I would not have undertaken so thankless a
task. That it is too true not to make enemies, is an
opinion in which I concur with several of my friends,
although I should hope that what I have written will
not give just reason for the permanence of such feelings.
On one point I shall speak decidedly, it is not connected
in any degree with the calculating machine on which
I have been engaged ; the causes which have led to it
have been long operating, and would have produced
this result whether I had ever speculated on that
subject, and whatever might have been the fistte of my
speculations.

If any one shall endeavour to account for the
opinions stated in these pages by ascribing them to
any imagined circumstance peculiar to myself, I think
he will be mistaken. That science has long beeii
neglected and declining in England, is not an opinion
originating with me, but is shared by many, and has
been expressed by higher authority than mine. I shall
offer a few notices on this subject, which, from their
scattered position, are unlikely to have met the reader's

PREFACE.

attention, and which, when combined with the facts I
have detailed in subsequent pages, ^vill be admitted to
deserve considerable attention. The following extract
from the article Chemistry, in the Encyclopcedia Metro-
jpolitana, is from the pen of a gentleman equally
qualified by his extensive reading, and from his ac-
quaintance with foreign nations, to form an opinion en-
titled to respect. Differing from him widely as to the
cause, I may be permitted to cite him as high authority
for the fact.

"In concluding this most circumscribed outline of the
" History of Chemistry, we may perhaps be allowed to ex-
press a faint shade of regret, which, nevertheless, has
frequently passed over our minds within the space of the
" last five or six years. Admiring, as we most sincerely do,
" the electro-magnetic discoveries of Professor Oersted and
** his followers, we still, as chemists, fear that our science
*' has suffered some degree of neglect in consequence of
'* them. At least, we remark that, during this period,
" good. chemical analyses and researches have been rare in
" England ; and yet, it must be confessed, there is an ample
*' field for chemical discovery. How scanty is our know-
" ledge of the suspected fiuorine ! Are we sure that we un-
'* derstand the nature of nitrogen ? And yet these are
" amongst our elements. Much has been done by WoUaston,
*' BerzelyCs, Guy-Lussac, Thenard, Thomson, Prout, and
" others, with regard to the doctrine of definite proportions ;
•* but there yet remains the Atomic Theory. Is it a repre-
" sentation of the laws of nature, or is it not?"— Chemistry,
Encyc. Metrop, p. 596.

When the present volume was considerably advanced,
the public were informed that the late Sir Humphry
Davy had commenced a work, having the same title as

[

PREFACE.

Vll

the present^ and that his sentiments were expressed in
the language of feeling atid of eloquence. It is to be
hoped that it may be allowed by his friends to convey
his opinions to posterity, and that the writings of the
philosopher may enable his contemporaries to forget
some of the deeds of the President of the Royal Society.
Whatever may be the fate of that highly interesting
document, we may infer his opinions upon this subject
from a sentiment expressed in his last work :—

«« ..But we may in vain search the aristocracy now for

" philosophers." " There are very few persons who pur-

" sue science with true dignity ; it is followed more as con-
" neCted with objects of profit than those of fame." — Sir H.
Davy's Consolations in Travel,

The last authority which I shall adduce is more valu-
able, from the varied acquirements of its author, and
from the greater devail into which he enters.

*' We have drawn largely, both in the present Essay, and
in our article on Ligut^i from the Annales de Chimief and
we take this only opportunity distinctly to acknowledge
our obligations to that most admirably conducted work.
Unlike the crude and undigested scientific matter which
suffices, (we are ashamed ^ say it) for the monthly and
quarterly amusement of oar own countrymen, whatever
is admitted into its pages, has at least been taken pains
with, and, with few exceptions, has sterling merit. In-
deed, among the original communications which abound in

•

it, there are few which would misbecome the first aca-
demical collections ; and if any thing could diminish our
regret at the long suppression of those noble memoirs, which
are destined to adorn future volumes of that of the Insti-
tute, it would be the masterly abstracts of them which

c<
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ti
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VIU

PREFACE.

*' from time to time appear in the Annales^ either from the
" hands of the authors, or from the reports rendered by the
" committees appointed to examine them ; which latter,
" indeed, are universally models of their kind, and have
" contributed, perhaps more than any thing, to the high
" scientific tone of the French satans. What author, indeed,
" but will write his best, when he knows that his work, if
" it have merit, will immediately be reported on by a com-
" mittee, who will enter into all its meaning ; understand it,
" however profound : and, not content with merely under-
" standing it, pursue the trains of thought to which it leads ;
" place its discoveries and principles in new and unexpected
** lights ; and bring the whole of their knowledge of col-
" lateral subjects to bear upon it. Nor ought we to omit
" our acknowledgments to the very valuable Journals of Pog-
" gendorffand Schweigger. Less exclusively national than
" their Gallic compeer, they present a picture of the actual
progress of physical science throughout Europe. Indeed,
we have been often astonished to see with what celerity
" every thing, even moderately valuable in the scientific
publications of this country, finds its way into their pages.
This ought to encourage our men of science. They have
a larger audience, and a wider sympathy than they are
perhaps aware of; and however disheartening the general
diffusion of smatterings of a number of subjects, and the
almost equally general indifference to profound knowledge
" in any, among their own countrymen, may be, they may
" rest assured that not a fact they may discover, nor a good
" experiment they may make, but is instantly repeated,
*' verified, and commented upon, in Germany, and, we may
'* add too, in Italy. We wish the obligation were mutual.
*' Here, whole branches of continental discovery are un-
'' studied, and indeed almost unknown, even by name. It is
" in vain to conceal the melancholy truth. We are fast
" dropping behind. In mathematics we have long since
** drawn the rein, and given over a hopeless race. In che-
•* mistry the case is not much better. Who can tell us any

«<

((

PREFACE. IX

" thing of the Sulfo-salts ? Who will explain to us the laws
" of Isomorphism? Nay, who among us has even verified
** Thenard's experiments on the oxygenated acids, — Oersted's
" and Berzelius's on the radicals of the earths, — Balard's
" and Serrulas's on the combinations of Brome, — and a
'* hundred other splendid trains of research in that fas-
*' cinating science ? Nor need we stop here. There are,
" indeed, few sciences which would not furnish matter for
'' similar remark. The causes are at once obvious and
" deep-seated ; but this is not the place to discuss them." —
Mr, Herschel's Treatise on Sound, printed in the Encyclo*
pcedia Metropolitana,

. With such authorities, I need not apprehend much ;

doubt as to the fisict of the decline of science in England : j

how far I may have pointed out some of its causes,
must be left to others to decide.

Many attacks have lately been made on the conduct i

of various scientific bodies, and of their officers, and
severe criticism has been lavished upon some of their
productions. Newspapers, Magazines, Reviews, and
Pamphlets, have all been put in requisition for the
purpose. Odium has been cast upon some of these
for being anonjrmous. If a fact is to be established by
testimony, anonymous assertion is of no value; if it
can be proved, by evidence to which the public have
access, it is of no consequence (for the cause of truth)
who produces it. A matter of opinion derives weight
from the name which is attached to it ; but a chain of
reasoning is equally conclusive, whoever may be its
author.

Perhaps it would be better for science, that all cri-
ticism should be avowed. It would certainly have the

r •

X PREFACE.

effect of rendering it more matured, and less severe;
but, on the other hand, it would have the evil of fre-
quently repressing it altogether, because there exists
amongst the lower ranks of science, a " genus irritabile"
who are disposed to argue that every criticism is per-
sonal. It is clearly the interest of all who fear
inquiries, to push this principle as far as possible,
whilst those whose sole object is truth, can have no
apprehensions from the severest scrutiny. There are
few circumstances which so strongly distinguish the
philosopher, as the calmness with which he can reply
to criticisms he may think undeservedly severe. I have
been led into these reflections, from the circumstance
of its having been stated publicly, that I was the author
of several of those anonymous writings, which were
considered amongst the most severe ; and the assertion
was the more likely to be credited, from the fact of my
having spoken a few words connected with one of those
subjects at the last anniversary of the Royal Society.*
I had hoped in that diminutive world, the world of
science, my character had been sufRciently known to

* I merely obserred that the agreement made with the British
Museum for exchanging the Arundel MSS. for their duplicates,
(which had just been stated by the President,) was unwise; — ^because it
was not to be expected that many duplicates should be found in a
Ifbrar)' like that of the Museum, weak in the physical and mathe-
maHcal sciences : that it was improvident and unbusinesslike ; — ^because
it neither fixed the time when the difference was to be paid, in case
their duplicates should be insufficient ; nor did it appear that there
were any funds out of which the money could be procured : and I
added, that it would be more advantageous to sell the MSS., and piu>
chase the books we wanted with the produce.

PREFACE. XI

have escaped being the subject of such a mistake ; and,
in taking this opportunity of correcting it, I will add
that, in the present volume, I have thought it more
candid to mention distinctly those whose line of conduct
I have disapproved, or whose works I have criticised,
than to leave to the reader inferences which he might
make far more extensive than I have intended. I hope,
therefore, that where I have depicted species, no person
will be so unkind to others and unjust to me, as to
suppose I have described individuals.

With respect to the cry against personality, which
has been lately set up to prevent all inquiry into
matters of scientific misgovemment, a few words will
suffice.

I feel as strongly as any one, not merely the im-
propriety, but the injustice of introducing private cha-
racter into such discussions. There is, however, a
maxim too well established to need any comment of mine.
The public character of every public servant is legiti-
mate subject of discussion, and his fitness or unfitness |
for office may be fairly canvassed by any person.
Those whose too sensitive feelings shrink from such
an ordeal, have no right to accept the emoluments of
office, for they know that it is the condition to which
all must submit who are paid from the public purse.

The same principle is equally applicable to Com-
panies, to Societies, and to Academies. Those from j
whose pocket the salary is drawn, and by whose appoint- '
ment the officer was made, have always a right to dis- {
cuss the merits of their officers, and their modes of
exercising the duties they are paid to perform.

Xll PREFACE.

This principle is equally applicable to the conduct
of a Secretary of State^ or to that of a constable ; to
that of a Secretary of the Royal Society, or of an ad-
viser to the Admiralty.

With respect to honorary officers, the case is in
some measure different. But the President of a society,
although not recompensed by any pecuniary remu-
neration, enjoys a station, when the body over which
he presides possesses a high character, to which many
will aspire, who will esteem themselves amply repaid
for the time they devote to the office, by the consequence
attaches to it in public estimation. He, therefore, is
answerable to the Society for his conduct in their
chair.

There are several societies in which the secre-
taries, and other officers, have very laborious duties,
and where they are unaided by a train of clerks, and
yet no pecuniary remuneration is given to them.
Science is much indebted to such men, by whose quiet
and unostentatious labours the routine of its institutions
is carried on. It would be unwise, as well as un-
grateful, to judge severely of the inadvertencies, or
even of the negligence of such persons: nothing but
weighty causes should justify such a course.

Whilst, however, I contend for the principle of dis-
cussion and inquiry in its widest sense, because I consi-
der it equally the safeguard of our scientific as of our
political institutions, I shall use it, I hope, temperately ;
and having no personal feelings myself, but living in
terms of intercourse ^^^th almost all, and of intimacy
with several of those from whom I most widely differ,

PREFACE. XIU

I shall not attempt to heap together all the causes
of complaint ; but, by selecting a few in different de-
partments, endeavour to convince them that some alter-
ation is essentially necessary for the promotion of that
very object which we both by such different roads
pursue. i

I have found it necessary, in the course of this '

volume, to speak of the departed; for the misgovem-

ment of the Royal Society has not been wholly the

result of even the present race. It is said, and I

think with justice, in the life of Youn;-... inserted

amongst Dr. Johnson's, that the famous maxim, " De

mortuts nil nisi bonum^ ''appears to savour more of

female weakness than of manly reason.'* The foibles

and the follies of those who are gone, may, without

injury to society, repose in oblivion. But, whoever

t would claim the admiration of mankind for their good

acdons, must prove his impartiality by fearlessly con- j

demning their evil deeds. Adopt the maxim, and praise |

to the dead becomes worthless, from its universality;

and history, a greater fable than it has been hitherto j

deemed. !

Perhaps I ought to apologize for the large space I
have devoted to the Royal Society. Certainly its pre-
sent state gives it no claim to that attention ; and I do
it partly from respect for its former services, and partly
from the hope that, if such an Institution can be of use
to science in the present day, the attention of its mem-
bers may be excited to take steps for its restoration.
Perhaps I may be blamed for having published extracts j

i ...1

XIV PREPACK.

from the minutes ol' its proceedings without the per-
mission of its Council. To have asked permission of

the present Council would have been useless. I might,
however, have given the substance of what I have ex-
tracted without the words, and no one could then have
reproached me with any infringement of our rules : but
there were two objections to that course. In the first
place, it is impossible, even for the most candid, in all
cases, to convey precisely the same sentiment in different
language ; and I thought it therefore more fair towards
those from whom I differed, as well as to the public,
to give the precise words. Again: had it been pos-
sible to make so accurate a paraphrase, I should yet
have preferred the risk of incurring the reproach of the
Royal Society for the offence, to escaping their censure
by an evasion. What I have done rests on my own
head ; and I shrink not from the responsibility attaching
to it

If those, whose mismanagement of that Society I con-
demn, should accuse me of hostility to the Royal So-
ciety ; my answer is, that Ute party which governs it
is not the Royal Society; and that I will only admit
the justice of the accusation, when the whole body,
becoming acquainted with the system I have exposed,
shall, by ratifying it with their approbation, appropriate
it to themselves : an event of which I need scarcely add
I have not the slightest anticipation.

CONTENTS.

PACE

Preface v

Introductory Remarks 1

Chap. I. On the Reciprocal Influence of Science and

Education 3

Chap. II. Of the Inducements to Individuals to cul-
tivate Science 9

Sect, 1 . Professional Impulses ibid.

%, Of National Encouragement 14

3. Of Encouragement from learned Societies 28
Chap. III. General State of learned Societies in Eng-
land 40

Chap. IV. State of the Royal Society in particular . . 50
Sect 1 . Mode of becoming a Fellow of the Royal

Society Und.

St. Of the Presidency and Vice-Presidencies 53

3. Of the Secretariships 56

4. Of the Scientific Advisers 66

5. Of the Union of several Offices in one

person 100

6. Of the Funds of the Society 103

7. Of the Royal Medals 115

8. Of the Copley Medals 125

9. Of the Fairchild Lecture 136

10. Of the Croonian Lecture 138

11. Of the Causes of the Present State of the

Royal Society ] 39

12. Of the Plan for Reforming the Society . 152

XW CONTENTS.

PAGE

Chap. V. Of Observations 167

Sect. I. Of Minute Precision ibid,

2. On the Art of Observing 170

3. On the Frauds of Observers 1 74

Chap. VI. Suggestions for the Advancement of Science

in England 184

Sect. 1. Of the Necessity that Members of the
Royal Society should express their Opi-
nions ibid.

2. Of Biennial Presidents 186

3. Of the Influence of the Colleges of Physi-

cians and Surgeons in the Royal Society 187

4. Of the Influence of the Royal Institution

on the Royal Society 188

5. Of the Transactions of the Royal Society . 190

6. Order of Merit . 198

7. Of the Union of Scientific Societies • . 200

Conclusion fU>S

Appendix No. 1 213

« — No. 2 224

No. 3 226

REFLECTIONS

ON THE

DECLINE OF SCIENCE IN ENGLAND,

AIJD ON SOME OF ITS CAUSES.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

It cannot have escaped the attention of those,
whose acquirements enable them to judge, and
who have had opportunities of examining the
state of science in other countries, that in Eng-
land, particularly with respect to the more diffi-
I I cult and abstract sciences, we are much below

other nations, not merely of equal rank, but
below several even of inferior power. That a
country, eminently distinguished for its mecha-
nical and manufacturing ingenuity, should be
indifferent to the progress ' of inquiries which
form the highest departments of that knowledge
on whose more elementary truths its wealth and
rank depend, is a fact which is well deserving
the attention of those who shall inquire into the
causes that influence the progress of nations.

2 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

To trace the gradual decline of mathematical^
and with it of the highest departments of phy-
sical science, from the days of Newton to the
present, must be left to the historian. It is not
within the province of one who, having mixed
sufficiently with scientific society in England
to see and regret the weakness of some of its
greatest ornaments, and to see through and
deplore the conduct of its pretended friends,
offers these remarks, with the hope that they
may excite discussion, — with the conviction that
disctission is the firmest ally of truth, — and with
the confidence that nothing but the full expres-
sion of public opinion can remove the evils that
chill the enthusiasm, and cramp the energies of
the science of England.

The causes which have produced, and some of
the effects' which have resulted from, the pre-
sent state of science in England, are so mixed,
that it is difficult to distinguish accurately be-
tween them. I shall, therefore, in this volume,
not attempt any minute discrimination, but rather
present the result of my reflections on the con-
comitant circumstances which have attended the
decay, and at the conclusion of it, shall examine
some of the suggestions which have been offered
for the advancement of British science.

CHAPTER L

ON THE RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OP SCIENCE AND

EDUCATION.

That the state of knowledge in any country
will exert a directive influence on the general
system of instruction adopted in it^ is a principle
too obvious to require investigation. And it
is equally certain that the tastes and pursuits
of our manhood will bear on them the traces
of the earlier impressions of our education.
It is therefore not unreasonable to suppose
that some portion of the neglect of science in
England^ may be attributed to the system of
education we pursue. A young man passes from
our public schools to the universities^ ignorant
almost of the elements of every branch of useful
knowledge; and at these latter establishments,
formed originally for instructing those who are
intended for the clerical profession, classical and
mathematical pursuits are nearly the sole objects
proposed to the student's ambition. ^

}

4 ON THE RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF

Much has been done at one of our universities
during the last fifteen years, to improve the
system of study ; and I am confident that there !

is no one connected with that body, who will
not do me the justice to believe that, whatever
suggestions I may venture to offer, are prompted
by the warmest feelings for the honour and the
increasing prosperity of its institutions. The ties
which connect me with Cambridge are indeed
of no ordinary kind.

Taking it then for granted that pur system
' of academical education ought to be adapted to
nearly the whole of the aristocracy of the
country, I am inclined to believe that whilst
the modifications I should propose would not be
great innovations on the spirit of our institu-^
tions, they would contribute materially to that
important object.

It win be readily admitted, that a degree con-
ferred by an university, ought to be a pledge
to the public that he who holds it possesses a
certain quantity of knowledge. The progress of
society has rendered knowledge far^ more various
in its kinds than it used to be ; and to meet this
variety in the tastes and inclinations of those who
come to us for instruction, we have, besides the
regular lectures to which all must attend, other

■WP

^tF

i '

SCIENCE AND EDUCATION. 5

sources of information from whence the students
may acquire sound and varied knowledge in
the numerous lectures on chemistry, geology,
botany, history, &c. It is at present a matter
of option with the student, which, and how many
of these courses he shall attend, and such it
should still remain. All that it would be neces-
sary to add would be, that previously to taking
his degree, each person should be examined by
those Professors, whose lectures he had c^ttended.
The pupils should then be arranged in two
classes, according to their merits, and the names
included in these classes should be printed. I
would then propose that no young man, except his
name was found amongst the '^ List of Honours,"
should be allowed to take his degree, unless he
had been placed in the first class of some one
at least of the courses given by the professors.
But it should still be imperative upon the
student to possess such mathematical knowledge
as we usually require. If he had attained the
first rank in several of these examinations, it is
obvious that we should run no hazard in a little
relaxing the strictness of his mathematical trial.

If it should be thought preferable, the sciences
might be grouped, and the following subjects
be taken together :—

-t.

R ON THE RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF

I
I

Modern History,

Laws of England,

Civil Law, f

Political Economy.
Applications of Science to Arts
and Manufactures.

Chemistry.

Mineralogy.

Geology.

Zoology, including Physiology
and Comparative Anatomy.

Botany, including Vegetable
Physiology and Anatomy.

One of the great advantages of such a system
would be^ that no young person would have an
excuse for not studying^ by stating^ as is most
frequently done^ that the only pursuits followed
at Cambridge^ classics and mathematics^ are not
adapted either to his taste^ or to the wants of
his after life. His friends and relatives would
then reasonably expect every student to have
acquired distinction in some pursuit. If it should
be feared that this plan would lead to too great

I a diversity of pursuits in the same individual,

a limitation might be placed upon the number of

• examinations into which the same person might

be permitted to enter. It might also be desirable

SCIENCE AND EDUCATION. 7

not to restrict the whole of these examinations
to the third year^ but to allow the student to
enter on some portion of them in the first or
second year^ if he should prefer it.

By such an arrangement^ which would scarcely
interfere seriously with our other examinations,
we should, I think, be enabled effectually to keep
pace with the wants of society, and retaining
fully our power and our right to direct the stu-
dies of those who are intended for the church,
as well as of those who aspire to the various
offices connected with our academical institu-
tions ; we should, at the same time, open a field
of honourable ambition to multitudes, who, from
the exclusive nature of our present studies, leave
us with but a very limited addition to their stock
of knowledge.

Much more might be said on a subject so
important to the interests of the country, as well
as of JOur university, but my wish is merely
to open it for our own consideration and dis-
cussion. We have already done so much for
the improvement of our system of instruction,
that public opinion will not reproach us for any
unwillingness to alter. It is our first duty to be
well satisfied that we can improve : such altera-
tions ought only to be the result of a most mature

-i^

[

■■■

8 OF SCIENCE AND EDUCATION.

consideration^ and of a free interchange of
sentiments on the subject^ in order that we may
condense upon the question the accumulated
judgment of many minds.

It is in some measure to be attributed to the
defects of our system of education^ that scientific
knowledge scarcely exists amongst the higher
classes of society. The discussions in the Houses
of Lords or of Commons^ which arise on the
occurrence of any subjects connected with science^
sufficiently prove this fact, which, if I had con-
sulted the extremely limited nature of my per-
sonal experience, I should, perhaps, have doubted.

CHAPTER IL

OF THE INDUCEMENTS TO INDIVIDUALS TO CUL-
TIVATE SCIENCE.

Interest or inclination form the primary and
ruling motives in this matter : and both these
exert greater or less proportionate influence in
each of the respective cases to be examined.

Section 1.

Professional Impulses.

A large portion of those who are impelled by
ambition or necessity to advance themselves in
the worlds make choice of some profession in
which they imagine their talents likely to be
rewarded with success; and there are peculiar
advantages resulting to each from this classi-
fication of society into professions. The esprit
de corps frequently overpowers the jealousy
which exists between individuals^ and pushes
on to advantageous situations some of the

10 INDUCEMENTS TO INDIVIDUALS

more fortunate of the profession ; whilst, on
the other hand, any injury or insult offered to
the weakest, is redressed or resented hy the
whole hody. There are other advantages which
are perhaps of more importance to the puhlic.
The numhers which compose the learned pro-
fessions in England are so considerable, that a
kind of public opinion is generated amongst
them, which powerfully tends to. repress conduct
that is injurious either to the profession or to
the public. Again, the mutual jealousy and
rivalry excited amongst the whole body is so
considerable, that although the rank and estima-
tion which an individual holds in the profession
may be most unfairly appreciated, by taking the
opinion of his rival ; yet few estimations will be
found generally more correct than the opinion of
a whole profession on the merits of any one of
its body. This test is of great value to the
public, and becomes the more so, in proportion
to the difficulty of the study to which the pro-
fession is devoted. It is by availing themselves
of it that men of sense and judgment, who have
occasion for the services of professional persons,
are, in a great measure, guided in their choice.
( The pursuit of science does not, in England,

constitute a distinct profession, as it does in

TO CULTIVATE SCIENCE, 11

many other countries. It is therefore^ on that
ground alone^ deprived of many of the advan-
tages lYhich attach to professions. One of its :
greatest misfortunes arises from this circumstance ;
for the subjects on which it is conversant are
so difficulty and require such unremitted devotion
of time^ that few who have not spent years in
their study can judge of the relative knowledge
of those who pursue them. It follows^ there-
fore^ that the public^ and even that men of sound
sense and discernment^ can scarcely find means i
to distinguish between the possessors of know-
ledge, in the present day> merely elementary,
and those whose acquirements are of the highest
order. This remark applies with peculiar force
to all the more difficult applications of mathe-
matics ; and the fact is calculated to check the
energies of those who only look to reputation in
England.

As there exists with us no peculiar class pro-
fessedly devoted to science, it frequently happens
that when a situation, requiring for the proper
fulfilment of its duties considerable scientific
attainments, is vacant, it becomes necessary to
1 1 select from among amateurs, or rather from

among persons whose chief attention has been
bestowed on other subjects, and to whom science

12 INDUCEMENTS TO INDIVIDUALS

(

I
/

I
1

has been only an occasional pursuit. A certain
quantity of scientific knowledge is of course pos-
sessed by individuals in many professions ; and
when added to the professional acquirements of
the army, the navy, or to the knowledge of the
merchant, is highly meri^prious : but it is obvious
that this may become, when separated from the
profession, quite insignificant as the basis of a
scientific reputation.

To those who have chosen the profession of
medicine, a knowledge of chemistry, and of some
branches of natural history, and, indeed, of several
other depifirtments of science, affords useful assist-
ance. Some of the most valuable names which
adorn the history of English science have, been
connected with this profession. •]

The causes which induce the selection of the
clerical profession are not often connected with
science ; and it is, perhaps, a question of con-
siderable doubt whether it is desirable to hold
out to its members hopes of advancement from
such acquirements. As a source of. recreation,
nothing can be more fit to occupy the attention
of a divine ; and our church may boast, in the
present as in past times, that the domain of
science has been extended by some of its brightest

TO CULTIVATE SCIENXE. 13 \ j

III England, the profession of the law is that
which seems to hold out the strongest attraction
to talent^ from the circumstance^ that in it
ahility, coupled with exertion^ even though un-
aided hy patronage, cannot fail of ohtmning
reward. It is frequently chosen as an intro-
duction to public life. It also presents great
advantages^ from its being a qualification for
many situations more or less remotely connected
with it, as well as &om the circumstance that
several of the highest officers of the state must
necessarily have sprung from its ranks.

A powerful attraction exists, therefore, to the
promotion of a study and of duties of all others
engrossing the time most completely^ and which
is less benefited than most others by any
acquaintance with science. This is one amongst
the causes why it so very rarely happens that
men in public situations are at all conversant
even with the commonest branches of scientific
knowledge, and why scarcely an instance can be j

cited of such persons acquiring a reputation by
any discoveries of their own.

But, however consistent other sciences may be
with professional avocations, there is one which,
from its extreme difficulty, and the overwhelming
attention which it demands, can only be pursued

14 INDUCEMENTS TO INDIVIDUALS

with success by those whose leisure is undis-
turbed by other claims. To be well acquainted
with the present state of mathematics^ is no easy
task ; but to add to the powers wluch that
science possesses^ is likely to be the lot of but
few English philosophers.

Section 2.

Of National Encouragetnent.

The little encouragement which at all previous
periods has been afforded by the English Govern-
ment to the authors of useful discoveries^ or of
new and valuable inventions^ is justified on the
following grounds :

1. The public^ who consume the new com-
modity or profit by the new invention^ are much
better judges of its merit than the government
can be.

2. The reward which arises from the sale of
the commodity is usually much larger than that
which government would be justified in bestow-
ing; and it is exactly proportioned to the con-
sumptioUj that is^ to the want which the public
feel for the new article.

It must be admitted that^ as general prin-
ciples, these are correct : there are, however, I

TO CULTIVATE SCIENCE.

exceptions which flow necessarily from the very
reasoning from which they were deduced. With-
out entering minutely into these exceptions^ it
will be sufficient to show that all abstract
truth is entirely excluded from reward under
this system. It is only the application of prin-
ciples to common life which can be thus re-
warded. A few instances may perhaps render
this position more evident. The principle of the
hydrostatic paradox was known as a speculative
truth in the time of Stevinus ; ** and its applica-
tion to raising heavy weights has long been
stated in elementary treatises on natural philo-
sophy^ as well as constantly exhibited in lectures.
Yet^ it may fairly be regarded as a mere abstract
principle^ until the late Mr. Bramah, by substi-
tuting a pump instead of the smaller column,
converted it into a most valuable and powerful
engine. — The principle of the convertibility of
the centres of oscillation and suspension in the
pendulum, discovered by Huygens more than a
century and a half ago/ remained, until within
these few years, a sterile, though most elegant
proposition; when, after being hinted at by
Prony, and distinctly pointed out by Bonen-

'*- "* '- nm

■•'■i

16 INDUCEMENTS TO INDIVIDUALS

berger, it was employed by Captain Kater as
the foundation of a most convenient practical |

method of determining the length of the pen-
dulum. — The interval which separated the dis-
covery, by Dr. Black, of latent heat, from the
beautiful and successful application of it to the
steam engine, was comparatively short ; but
it required the efforts of two minds ; and both
were of the highest order. — The influence of
electricity in producing decompositions, although
of inestimable value as an instrument of dis-
covery in chemical inquiries, can hardly be said
to have been applied to the practical purposes
of life, until the same powerful genius* which
detected the principle, applied it, by a singular
felicity of reasoning, to arrest the corrosion of
the copper-sheathing of vessels. That admirably
connected chain of reasoning, the truth of which
is confirmed by its very failure as a remedy,'|'

* I am authorised in stating, that this was regarded by
Laplace as the greatest of Sir Humphry Davy's discoveries.

f It did uot fail in producing the effect foreseen by Sir
H. Davy, — the preventing the corrosion of the copper ; but it
failed as a cure of the evil, by producing one of an opposite
character; either by preserving too perfectly from decay
the surface of the copper, or by rendering it negative, it
allowed marine animals and vegetables to accumulate on its
surface, and thus impede the progress of the vessel.

TO CULTIVATE SCIENCE. 17

. 'ill probably at some future day supply, by its
successful application, a new proof of the posi-
tion we are endeavouring to establish.

Other instances might, if necessary, be ad-
duced, to show that long intervals frequently
elapse between the discovery of new principles
in science and their practical application : nor \

ought this at all to surprise us. Those intellectual
qualifications, which give birth to new principles
or to new methods, are of quite a different order
from those which are necessary for their practical
[ application.

At the time of the discovery of the beautiful
theorem of Huygens, it required in its author not
merely a complete knowledge of the mathema-
tical science of his age, but a genius to enlarge
its boundaries by new creations of his own.
Such talents are not always united with a quick
perception of the details, and of the practical
applications of the principles they have deve-
loped, nor is it for the interest of mankind that
minds of this high order should lavish their
powers on subjects unsuited to their grasp.

In mathematical science, more than in all
others, it happens that truths which are at one
period the most abstract, and apparently the
most remote from all useful application, become

L .-^

18 INDUCEMENTS TO INDIVIDUALS

in the next age the bases of profound physical
inquiries^ and in the succeeding one^ perhaps^
by proper simplification and reduction to tables,
furnish their ready and daily aid to the artist
and the sailor.

It may also happen that at the time of the
discovery of such principles, the mechanical arts
may be too imperfect to render their application
likely to be attended with success. Such was
the case with the principle of the hydrostatic
paradox ; and it was not, I believe^ until the
expiration of Mr. Bramah's patent, that the press
which bears his name received that mechanical
perfection in its execution, which has deservedly
brought it into such general use.

On the other hand, for one person who is
blessed with the power of invention, many will
always be found who have the capacity of apply-
ing principles ; and much of the merit ascribed
to these applications will always depend on the
care and labour bestowed in the practical detail.
* If, therefore, it is important to the country
that abstract principles should be applied to
practical use, it is clear that it is also important
that encouragement should be held out to the
few who are capable of adding to the number
of those truths on which such applications are 1

TO CULTIVATE SCIENCE. 19

founded. Unless there exist peculiar institutions
for the support of such inquirers^ or unless the
Government directly interfere, the contriver of a
thaumatrope may derive profit from his inge-
nuity, whilst he who unravels the laws of light
and vision, on which multitudes of phenomena
depend, shall descend unrewarded to the tomh.

Perhaps it may he urged, that sufficient
encouragement is already afforded to ahstract
science in our different universities, by the pro-
fessorships established at them. It is not however
in the power of such institutions to create ; they
may foster and aid the development of genius;
and, when rightly applied, such stations ought to
be its fair and honourable rewards. In many
instances their emolument is small ; and when
otherwise, the lectures which are required from
the professor are not perhaps in all cases the best
mode of employing the energies of those who are
capable of inventing.

I cannot resist the opportunity of supporting
these opinions by the authority of one of the
greatest philosophers Df a past age, and of express-
ing my acknowledgments to the author of a most
interesting piece of scientific biography. In the
correspondence which terminated in the return
of Galileo to a professorship in his native country,

}

20 INDUCEMENTS TO INDIVIDUALS

ft
if

ft
ft

€t
€€
€€
€t

he remarks, " But, because my private lectures
'' and domestic pupils are a great hinderance and !

'' interruption of my studies, I wish to live en- I

tirely exempt from the former, and in great *

measure from the latter.'* — Life of Galileo,
p. 18. And, in another letter to Kepler, he
speaks with gratitude of Cosmo, the Grand Duke
of Tuscany, who *' has now invited me to attach
myself to him with the annual salary of 1000
florins, and with the title of Philosopher and
principal Mathematician to his Highness, with-
out the duties of any office to perform, but
with most complete leisure ; so that I can com-
plete my treatise on Mechanics, Sec." — P. 31.*
Surely, if knowledge is valuable, it can never
be good policy in a country far wealthier than
Tuscany, to allow a genius like Mr. Dalton's, to
be employed in the drudgery of elementary in-
truction.t Where would have been the military
renown of England, if, with an equally improvi-

* Life of Galileo, published by the Society for the Diffu-
sion of Useful Knowledge.

-f- I utter these sentiments froin no feelings of private 1

friendship to that estimable philosopher, to whom it is my t

regret to be almost unknown, and whose modest and retiring
merit, I may, perhaps, have the misfortune to offend by these
remarks. But Mr. Dalton was of no party ; had he ever
moved in that vortex which has brought discredit, and almost

- -"-^

^^^^^^^^^^^r^^^^M^^r^

[

TO CULTIVATE SCIENCE. 21

dent waste of mental power, its institutions had
j forced the Duke of Wellington to employ his

life in drilling recruits, instead of planning cam-
paigns ?
{ If we look at the fact, we shall find that the

great inventions of the age are not, with us
at least, always produced in universities. The
doctrines of "definite proportions," and of the
"chemical agency of electricity,"— principles of
a high order, which have immortalized the names
of their disc6verers, — were not produced hy the
meditations of the cloister : nor is it in the least
a reproach to those valuable institutions to men-
tion truths like these. Fortunate circumstances
must concur, even to the greatest, to render
them eminently successfuL It is not permitted

ruin, on the Royal Society of England ; — had he taken part
with those who vote to each other medals, and, affecting to
be tired of the fatigues of office, make to each other requi-
sitions to retain places they would be most reluctant to quit;
bis great and splendid discovery would long since have been
represented to government. Expectant mediocrity would
have urged on his claims to remuneration, and those who
covered their selfish purposes with the cloak of science,
would have hastened to shelter themselves in the mantle of
his glory. — But the philosopher may find consolation for
the tardy approbation of that Society, in the applause of
Europe. If he was insulted by their medal, he escaped the
pain of seeing his name connected with their proceedings.

i I

-.4

22 INDUCEMENTS TO INDITIDUALS

to all to be born, like Archimedes, when a
science was to be created; nor, like Newton,
to find the system of the world ^ without form
and void f and, by disclosing gracitatian, to
shed throughout that system the same irresistible
radiance as that with which the Almighty Crea-
tor had illumined its material substance. It can
happen to but few philosophers, and but at
distant intervals, to snatch a science, like Dalton,
from the chaos of indefinite combination, and
binding it in the chains of number, to exalt it
to rank amongst the exact. Triumphs like
these are necessarily '' few and far between ;" nor
can it be expected that that portion of encou-
ragement, which a country may think fit to
bestow on science, should be adapted to meet
such instances. Too extraordinary to be fire-
quent, they must be left, if they are to be
encouraged at all, to some direct interference
of the government

The dangers to be apprehended from such a
specific interference, would arise from one, or
several, of the following circumstances : — That
class of society, from whom the government is
selected, might not possess sufficient knowledge
either to judge themselves, or know upon whose
judgment to rely. Or the number of persons f

TO CULTIVATE SCIENCE. 23

devoting themselves to science, might not be
sufficiently large to have due weight in the
expression of public opinion. Or, supposing this
class to be large, it might not enjoy, in the esti-

tl mation of the world, a sufficiently high character

for independence. Should these causes concur
in any country, it might become highly injurious
to commit the encouragement of science to any
department of the government. This reasoning
does not appear to have escaped the penetration
of those who advised the abolition of the late ;

Board of Longitude.

The question whether it is good policy in the ,

government of a country to encourage science, *

is one of which those who cultivate it are not
perh^s the most unbiassed judges. In England,
those who have hitherto pursued science, have
in general no very reasonable grounds of com-
plaint ; they knew, or should have known, that
there was no demand for it, that it led to little
honour, and to less profit.

That blame has been attributed to the govern-
ment for not fostering the science of the country
is certain; and, as far as regards past admi-
nistrations, is, to a great extent, just; with
respect to the present ministers, whose strength
essentially depends on public opinion, it is not

24 INDUCEMENTS TO INDIVIDUALS

necessary that they should precede, and they t

cannot remain long insensible to any expression {

of the general feeling. But supposing science
were thought of some importance by any ad-
ministration, it would be difficult in the pre-
sent state of things to do much in its favour;
because, on the one hand, the higher classes
in general have not a profound knowledge of
science, and, on the other, those persons whom
they have usually consulted, seem not to have
given such advice as to deserve the confidence of
government. It seems to be forgotten, that the
money allotted by govemrhent to purposes of
science ought to be expended with the same
regard to prudence and economy as in the dis-
posal of money in the affairs of private life.*
To those who measure the question of the

* Who, for instance, could have advised the government
to incur the expense of printing seven hundred and fifty
copies of the Astronomical Observations made at Paramatta,
to form a third part of the Philosophical Transactions for
1 829, whilst of the Observations made at the Royal Obser-
vatory at Greenwich, two hundred and fifty copies only are
printed ?

Of these seven hundred and fifty copies, seven hundred
and ten will be (|istributed to members of the Royal Society,
to six hundred of whom they will probably be wholly
uninteresting or useless ; and thus the country incurs a

TO CULTIVATE SCIENCE. 25

national encouragement of science by its value
in pounds, shillings, and pence, I will here state
a fact, \Yhich, although pretty generally known^
still, I think, deserves attention. A short time
since it was discovered by government that the
terms on which annuities had been granted by
them were erroneous, and new tables were in-
troduced by act of Parliament. It was stated
at the time that the erroneous tables had caused
a loss to the country of between two and three
millions sterling. The fact of the sale of those
annuities being a losing concern was long known
to many ; and the government appear to have
been the last to be informed on the subject.
Half the interest of half that loss, judiciously
applied to the encouragement of mathematical
science, would, in a few years, have rendered
utterly impossible such expensive errors.

To those who bow to the authority of great
names, one remark may have its weight. The
Mecanique Cceleste,^ and the Thiorie Analy^
tique des ProbabilitSs, were both dedicated, by

constantly recurring annual expense. Nor is it easy to see
on what principle a similar destination could be refused for
the observations made at the Cape of Good Hope.

f The first volume of the first translation of this cele-
i I brated work into our own language, has just arrived in

England from America.

26 INDUCEMENTS TO INDIVIDUALS

Laplace^ to Napoleon. During the reign of that
extraordinary man, the triumphs of France were
as eminent in Science as they were splendid in
arms. May the institutions which trained and
rewarded her philosophers he permanent as the
benefits they have conferred upon mankind !

In other countries it has been found, and is
admitted, that a knowledge of science is a re-
commendation to public appointments, and that
a man does not make a worse ambassador be-
cause he has directed an observatory, or has
added by his discoveries to the extent of our
knowledge of animated nature. Instances even
are not wanting of ministers who have begun
their career in the inquiries of pure analysis.
As such examples are perhaps more frequent
than is generally imagined, it may be useful to
mention a few of those men of science who have
formerly held, or who now hold, high official
stations in the governments of their respective

TO CULTIVATE SCIENCE.

: :

Country.

Name.

Department of
Science.

Public Office.

France . .

Marquis liaplace*

Mathematics .

President of the
Conservative
Senate.

France . .

M. Camot ....

Mathematics .

Minister of War.

France . .

Count Chaptalt..

Chemistry . .

Minister of the
Interior.

France . •

Baron Cuviert • .

Comparative
Anatomy,
Noiural His-
tory

Minister of
Public In-
struction.

Prussia..

Baron Humboldt .

Oriental lan-
guages

Ambassador to
England.

Prussia..

Baron Alexander
Humboldt

The celebrated
Traveller

Chamberlain to
the King of
Prussia.

Modena .

Marquis Rangoni§

Mathematics .

Minister of Fi-
nance and of
PubUc In-
structioni
President of
the Italian
Academy of
Forty.

Tuscany .

Count Fossombronill

Mathematics .

Prime Minister
of the Grand
Duke of
Tuscany.

Saxony. .

M. Lindenauf . .

Astronomy ..

Ambassador.

* Author of the Meeanique CoduU,

t Author of TraUi d$ Ckitne JppUquS aux Arts.

X Author of Lefms d'Jnatomie CcmparU'^Beehereket tur Us Oaement
FouUes, 4^ 4^.

§ Author of MemoHa tuU$ Ftamemi Generatrid, Modena, 1824, and of
various other memoirs on mathematical snlgects.

(i Author of several memoirs on mechanic! and hydraulici, In the Trans-
actions of the Academy of Forty.

% Author of TabUs BarmetriqMet, Ootha, lS09-^Tahula Veneritj novds
ei correeta, Goths, 1810 — Inoestigatio Nova OrbiUt a Meratrio circa SoUm
descripta, Gotha, 1813, and of other works.

zy-

28 INDUCEMENTS TO INDIVIDUALS

M. Lindenau, the Minister from the King of
Saxony to the King of the Netherlands, com-
menced his career as astronomer at the obser-
vatory of the Grand Duke of Gotha, by whom
he was sent as his representative at the German
Diet. On the death of the late reigning Duke,
M. Lindcinau was invited to Dresden, and filled
the same situation under the King of Saxony;
after which he was appointed his minister at the
court of the King of the Netherlands. Such
occurrences are not to be paralleled in our own
country, at least not in modern times. Newton
was, it is true, more than a century since, ap-
pointed Master of the Mint ; but let any person
suggest an appointment of a similar kind in the
present day, and he will gather from the smiles
of those to whom he proposes it that the highest
knowledge conduces nothing to success, and that
political power is almost the only recommen-
dation.

Section 3. .
Of Encouragement from Learned Societies.

There are several circumstances which concur
in inducing persons pursuing science, to unite

«.

TO CULTIVATE SCIENCE.

together, to form societies or academies. In for-
mer times, when philosophical instruments were
more rare, and the art of making experiments
was less perfectly known, it was almost neces-
sary. More recently, whilst numerous additions
are constantly making to science, it has been
found that those who are most capable of ex-
tending human knowledge, are frequently least
able to encounter the expense of printing their
investigations. It is therefore convenient, that
some means should be devised for relieving them
from this difficulty, and the volumes of the
transactions of academies have accomplished
the desired end.

There is, however, another purpose to which
academies contribute. When they consist of a
limited number of persons, eminent for their
knowledge, it becomes an object of ambition to
be admitted on their list. Thus a stimulus is
applied to all those who cultivate science, which
urges on their exprtions, in order to acquire the
wished -for distinction. It is clear that this
envied position will be valued in proportion to
the difficulty of its attainment, and also to the
celebrity of those who enjoy it; and whenever
the standard of scientific knowledge which
qualifies for its ranks is lowered, the value of

INDUCEMENTS TO INDIVIDUALS

the distinction itself will be diminished. If, at
any time, a multitude of persons having no sort
of knowledge of science are admitted, it must
cease to be sought after as an object of am-
bition by men of science, and the class of per-
sons to whom it will become an object of desire
will be less intellectual.

Let us now compare the numbers composing
some of the various academies of Europe. — The
Royal Society of London, the Institute of France^
the Italian Academy of Forty, and the Royal
Academy of Berlin, are amongst the most
distinguished.

Name

Number of

Number

Population.

Members of ita

Country.

•

- Academy.

Fordgn Members.

1. England.

22,299,000

685 -

2. France .

32,058,000

( 8 Mem.
(100 Corr.

3. Prussia .

12,415,000

4. Italy . .

12,000,000

It appears then, that in France, one person
out of 427,000 is a member of the Institute.
That in Italy and Prussia, about one out of
300,000 persons is a member of their Academies.

K.':-'^

I
I

TO CULTIVATE SCIENCE. 31

That in England, every 32,000 inhabitants pro-
duces a Fellow of the Royal Society. Looking
merely at these proportions, the estimation of
a seat in the Academy of Berlin, must be more
than nine times as valuable as a similar situation
in England; and a member of the Institute of
France will be more than thirteen times more
rare in his country than a Fellow of the Royal
Society is in England.

Favourable as this view is to the dignity of
such situations in other countries, their com-
parative rarity is by no means the most striking
difference in the circumstances of men of science.
If we look at the station in society occupied by the
savans of other countries, in several of them we
shall find it high, and their situations profitable.
Perhaps, at the present moment, Prussia is, of all
the countries in Europe, that which bestows the
greatest attention, and most unwearied encou-
ragement on science. Great as are the merits
of many of its philosophers, much of this support
arises from the character of the reigning family,
by whose enlightened policy even the most
abstract sciences are fostered.

The maxim that *' knowledge is power," can be
perfectly comprehended by those only who are
themselves well versed in science ; and to the

INDUCEMENTS TO ISDIVIDDALS

circumstance of the younger branches of the royal
family of Prussia having acquired considerable
knowledge in such subjects^ we may attribute the
great force with which that maxim is appreciated.
In France, the situation of its savans is highly
respectable, as well as profitable. If we analyase
the list of the Institute, we shall find few who
do not possess titles or decorations ; but as the
value of such marks of royal favour must depend,
in a great measure, on their frequency, I shall
mention several particulars which are probably
not familiar to the English reader.* •

Namber of the Members of tbe

Institute of France who belong to the

Legioo of Honoor.

•

Total Number of each Class

of the

Legion of Honoor.

Grand. Croix

Grand Officier

Commandeur

Officier

Chevalier

3
3

4
17
40

*
80

160

400

2,000

Not limited.

* This analysis was made by comparing the list of the
Institute, printed for that body in 1827, with \he Almanack

TO CULTIVATE SCIENCE.

Number of Members of tbe Institute

decorated with

the Order of St Michel

Total Number

that Order.

Grand Croix

Chevalier

2
27

i 100

Amongst the members of the Institute there
are, —

Dukes 2

Marquis 1

Counts 4

Viscounts 2

Barons 14

1. 1

Of these there are Peers of France . 5

».

We might, on turning over the list of the
685 members of the Royal Society, find a greater
number of peers than there are in the Institute
of France ; but a fairer mode of instituting the
comparison, is to inquire how many titled mem-
bers there are amongst those who have con-
tributed to its Transactions. In 1827, there
were one hundred and nine members who had
contributed to the Transactions of the Royal
Society ; amongst these were found : —

34 INDUCEMENTS TO INDIVIDUALS

Peer I

Baronets - 5 *

Knights 5 ?

It should be observed^ that five of these titles t

were the rewards of members of the medical
profession^ and one only, that of Sir H. Davy,
could be attributed exclusively to science. |

It must not be inferred that the titles of \

nobility in the French list, were all of them 1

the rewards of scientific eminence; many are )

known to have been such ; but it would be quite
sufficient for the argument to mention the names
of Lagrange, Laplace, Berthollet, and Chaptal.

The estimation in which the public hold literary j

claims in France and England, was curiously illus-

trated by an incidental expression in the trans- i

lation of the debates in the House of Lords, on t

the occasion of His Majesty's speech at the com-
mencement of the session of 1830. The Gaacette
de France stated, that the address .was moved ?

by the Due de Buccleugh, '^ chef de la maisan t

de Walter Scott.'' Had an English editor wished |

to particularize that nobleman, he would un- '

doubtedly have employed the term wealthy, or
some other of the epithets characteristic of that
quality most esteemed amongst his countrymen.
If we tui-n, on the other hand, to the emo-

TO CULTIVATE SCIENCE.

laments of science in France^ we shall find them
far exceed those in our own country. I regret
much that I have mislaid a most interesting
memorandum on this subject, which I made
several years since : but I believe my memory
on the point will not be found widely incorrect.
A foreign gentleman, himself possessing no
inconsiderable acquaintance with science, called
on me a few years since, to present a letter of
introduction. He had been but a short time in
London ; and, in the course of our conversation,
it appeared to me that he had imbibed very inac-
curate ideas respecting our encouragement of
science.

Th\iiking this a good opportunity of insti-
tuting a fair comparison between the emoluments
of science in the two countries, I placed a sheet
of paper before him, and requested him to write
down the names of six Englishmen, in his opi-
nion, best known in France for their scientific
reputation. Taking another sheet of paper, I
wrote upon it the names of six Frenchmen, best
known in England for their scientific discoveries.
We exchanged these lists, and I then re-
quested him to place against each name (as far
as he knew) the annual income of the different
appointments held by that person. In the mean

***<!

36 IXDUCEMEXTS TO INDIVIDUALS

time, I performed the same operiation on his list,
against some names of which I was obliged to
place a zero. The result of the comparison was
an average of nearly 1200/. per annum for the
six French savans whom I had named. Of the
average amount of the sums received by the
English, I only remember that it was very much
smaller. When we consider what a command
over the necessaries and luxuries of life 12002.
will give in France, it is underrating it to say
it is equal to 2000/. in this country.

Let us now look at the prospects of a young
man at his entrance into life, who, impelled by
an almost irresistible desire to devote himself to
the abstruser sciences, or who, confident in the |

energy of youthful power, feels that the career
of science is that in which his mental faculties
are most fitted to achieve the reputation for
which he pants. What are his prospects ? Can j

even the glowing pencil of enthusiasm add I

colour to the blank before him? There are ;

no situations in the state; there is no position *

in society to which hope can point, to cheer
him in his laborious path. If, indeed, he belong
to one of our universities, there are some few
chairs in his own Alma Mater to which he may

TO CULTIVATE SCIENCE.

at some distant day pretend ; but these are not
numerous ; and whilst the salaries attached are
seldom sufficient for the sole support of the in-
dividual^ they are very rarely enough for that of
a family. What then can he reply to the en-
treaties of his friends^ to betake himself to some
business in which perhaps they have power to
assist him, or to choose some profession in which
his talents may produce for him their fair reward?
If he have no fortune, the choice is taken
away : he must give up that line of life in which
his habits of thought and his ambition qualify
him to succeed eminently, and he must choose
the bar, or some other profession, in which,
amongst so many competitors, in spite of his
great talents, he can be but moderately success-
ful. The loss to him is great, but to the country
it is greater. We thus, by a destructive mis-
application of talent which our institutions create,
exchange a profound philosopher for but a tole-
rable lawyer.

If, on the other hand, he possess some mode-
rate fortune of his own ; and, intent on the glory
of an immortal name, yet not blindly ignorant of
the state of science in this country, he resolve to
make for that aspiration a sacrifice the greater,
because he is fully aware of its extent; — if, so

ij^

38 INDUCEMENTS TO INDIVIDUALS

circumstanced^ he give up a business or a profes- ;

sion on which he might have entered with advan- ^ I

tage, with the hope that, when he shall have
won a station high in the ranks of European
science, he may a little augment his resources I

by some of those few employments to which
science leads ; — if he hope to obtain some |

situation^ (at the Board of Longitude,* for ex- !

ample,) where he may be permitted to exercise |

the talents of a philosopher for the paltry remu- |

neration of a clerk, he will find that other quali- I

fications than knowledge and a love of science ;

are necessary for its attidnment. He will also j

find that the high and independent spirit, which t

usually dwells in the breast of those who are
deeply versed in these pursuits, is ill adapted for
such appointments ; and that even if successful,
he must hear many things he disapproves, and
raise no voice against them.

Thus, then, it appears that scarcely any man
can be expected to pursue abstract science un-
less he possess a private fortune, and unless he
can resolve to give up all intention of im-
proving it. Yet, how few thus situated are
likely to undergo the labour of the acquisition ;

1 ; is V)0(lv is now dissolved.

TO CULTIVATE SCIENCE. 39

and if they do from some irresistible impulse,
what inducement is there for them to deviate
one step from those inquiries in which they find
the greatest delight, into those which might be
more immediately useful to the public ?

I
I

)

CHAPTER III.

GENERAL STATE OF LEARNED SOCIETIES IN

ENGLAND.

1 The progress of knowledge convinced the

world that the system of the division of lahour
and of cooperation was as applicable to science,
as it had been found available for the improve-
ment pf manufactures. The want of competition
in science produced effects similar to those which
the same cause gives birth to in the arts. The
cultivators of botany were the first to feel that
the range of knowledge embraced by the Royal
Society was too comprehensive to admit of suffi-
cient attention to their favourite subject, and
they established the Linnean Society. After
many years, a new science arose, and the Geo-
logical Society was produced. At an another
and more recent epoch, the friends of astrono-
my, urged by the wants of their science, united

i
*
I

•r««MMVMM«»*l

*• V

LEARNED SOCIETIES IX ENGLAND. 41

to establish the Astronomical Society. Each
of these bodies founds that the attention devoted
to their science by the parent establishment was
insufficient for their wants, and each in succession
experienced from the Royal Society the most
determined opposition.

Instituted by the most enlightened philoso-
phers, solely for the promotion of the natural
sciences, that learned body justly conceived
that nothing could be more likely to render
these young institutions permanently successful,
than discouragement and opposition at their
commencement. Finding their first attempts
so eminently successful, they redoubled the
severity of their persecution, and the result was
commensurate with their exertions, and sur-
passed even their wildest anticipations. The
Astronomical Society became in six years known
and respected throughout Europe, not from the
halo of reputation which the glory of its vigour- \

ous youth had thrown around the weakness of its :

declining years; but from the sterling merit of
*' its unpretending deeds, from the sympathy it
*' claimed and received from every practical j

'* astronomer, whose labours it relieved, and
" whose calculations it lightened.**

But the system which worked so well is now

42 GENERAL STATE OF

changed, and the Zoological and Medico-Botanical '

Societies were established without opposition: i
perhaps, indeed, the total failure of the latter

society is the best proof of the wisdom which ?

guided the councils of the Royal. At present,

the various societies exist with no feelings of -

rivalry or hostility, each pursuing its separate
objects, and all uniting in deploring with filial t

regret, the second childhood of their common
parent, and the evU councils by which that sad
event has been anticipated.

It is the custom to attach certain letters to the
names of those who belong to different societies,
and these marks of ownership are by many con-
sidered the only valuable part of their purchase
on entry. The following is a list of some of
these societies. The second column gives the
ready-money prices of the tail-pieces indicated in
the third.

• I

i
I

LEARNED SOCIETIES IN ENGLAND.

SOCIETIES.

Royal Society

Royal Society of Edinburgh .

Royal Academy of Dublin • .
Royal Society of Literature .

Antiquarian

Linnean

Geological

Astronomical

Zoological

Royal Institution

Royal Asiatic
Horticultural

Medico-Botanical

Feeion Admis>

sioo, including

Composition

for Aiinuil

Payments.

£. $• d,

Z5 4, 0*

Z6 5

36 15

50 8

d6 0.

d4 IS

25 4

26 5
50
31 10
48 6
21

Appended Letters.

F. R. S.
F. R« S. £•
M. R. I. A.
F. R. S. Lit.
F. A. S.
F. L. S.
F. G. S.
M. A. S.
F. Z. S.

M. R. I.

r • K« A* S«
F. H. S.
F. M. B. S.

Thus, those who are ambitious of scientific
distinction, may, according to their fancy, render
their name a kind of comet, carrying with it a

* The Royal Society of Edinburgh now requires, for com-
position in lieu of annual contributions, a sum dejiendent
on the value of the life of the member.

44 GENERAL STATE OF

tail of upwards of forty letters, at the average j

cost of lOZ. 9^. 9^d. per letter, )

Perhaps the reader will remark, that science |

cannot be declining in a country which supports
so many institutions for its cultivation. It is
indeed creditable to us, that the greater part of
these societies are maintained by the voluntary
contributions of their members. But, unless the
inquiries which have recently taken place in
some of them should rectify the system of
management by which several have been op-
pressed, it is not difficult to predict that their
duration will be short. Full publicity, printed
statements of accounts, and occasional dis-
cussions and inquiries at general meetifigs, are
the only safeguards; and a due degree of ;

vigilance should be exercised on those who dis-
courage these principles. Of the Royal Society, I
I shall speak in a succeeding page; and I i
regret to add, that I might have said more. {
My object is to amend it; but, like all deeply- |
rooted complaints, the operation which alone j
can contribute to its cure, is necessarily painful.
Had the words of remonstrance or reproof !
found utterance through other channels, I had !
gladly been silent, content to support by my ^
vote the reasonings of the friend of science and

'•■.

LEARNED SOCIETIES IN ENGLAND. 45

of the Society. But this has not been the
case, and after frustrated efforts to introduce
improvements, I shall now endeavour, by the
force of plain, but perhaps painful truths, to
direct public opinion in calling for such a reform,
as shall rescue the Royal Society from contempt
in our own country, from ridicule in others.

On the next five societies in the list, I shall
offer no remarks. Of the Geological, I shall say
a few words. It possesses all the freshness, the
vigour, and the ardour of youth in the pursuit
of a youthful science, and has succeeded in a most
difficult experiment, that of having an oral dis-
cussion on the subject of each paper read at its
meetings. To say of these discussions, that they
[ , are very entertaining, is the least part of the

praise which is due to them. They are gene-
rally very instructive, and sometimes bring to-
gether isolated facts in the science which, though
insignificant when separate, mutually illustrate
each other, and ultimately lead to important con-
clusions. The continuance of these discussions
evidently depends on the taste, the temper, and
the good sense of the speakers. The things to
be avoided are chiefly verbal criticisms — praise
of each other beyond its reasonable limits, and
contest for victory. This latter is, perhaps, the

46 GENERAL STATE OF

most important of the three^ both for the in- \

terests of the Society and of truth. With regard
to the published volumes of their Transactions^ i

it may be remarked, that if members were in
the habit of communicating their papers to the
Society in & more finished state, it would be at- ;

tended with several advantages ; amongst others, |

with that of lightening the heavy duties of the {

oftcers, which are perhaps more laborious in this -

Society than in most others. To court pub-
licity in their accounts and proceedings, and to
endeavour to represent all the feelings of the
Society in the Council, and to avoid permanent
Presidents, is a recommendation not peculiarly
addressed to this Society, but would contribute to
the well-being of all.

Of the Astronomical Society, which, from the
nature of its pursuits, could scarcely admit of
the discussions similar to those of the Geological,
I shall merely observe, that I know of no secret
which has caused its great success, unless it be
attention to the maxims which have just been
stated.

On the Zoological Society, which afibrds much
rational amusement to the public, a few hints
may at present suffice. The largeness of its
income is a frightful consideration. It is too

»
I

LEARNED SOCIETIES IN ENGLAND. 47

tempting as the subject for jobs^ and it is too
fluctuating and uncertain in its amount, not to
render embarrassment in the affairs of the Society
a circumstance likely to occur, without the
greatest circumspection. It is most probable,
from the very recent formation of this Institution,
that its Officers and Council are at present
all that its best friends could wish ; but it is
still right to mention, that in such a Society, it
is essentially necessary to have men of business .

on the Council, as well as persons possessing 7

extensive knowledge of its pursuits. It is more
dangerous in such a Society than in any other, 'i

to pay compliments, by placing gentlemen on i

the Council who have not the qualifications which '^

are requisite ; a frequent change in the mem-
bers of the Council is desirable, in order to find
out who are the most regular attendants, and <t

most qualified to conduct its business. Publicity
in its accounts and proceedings is, from the I

magnitude of its funds, more essential to the
Zoological than to any other society; and it
is rather a fearful omen, that a check was at-
tempted to be given to such inquiries at the last
anniversary meeting. If it is to be a scientific
body, the friends of science should not for an
instant tolerate such attempts.

•w*

48 GENERAL STATE OF

It frequently happens^ that gentlemen take
an active part in more than one scientific society :
in that case^ it may be useful to derive instruc-
tion as to their merits/ by observing the success
of their measures in other societies.

The Asiatic Society has, amongst other bene-
fits, caused many valuable works to be trans-
lated, which could not have otherwise been
published.

The Horticultural Society has been ridden
almost to death, and is now rousing itself; but
its constitution seems to have been somewhat
impaired. There are hopes of its purgation,
and ultimate restoration, notwithstanding a debt
of 19,000/., which the Committee of Inquiry have
ascertained to exist. This, after all, will not be
without its advantage to science, if it puts a stop
to house4ists, named by one or two persons, —
to making complimentary councillors, — and to
auditing the accounts without examining every
item, or to omitting even that form altogether.

The Medico-Botanical Society suddenly claimed
the attention of the public ; its pretensions were
great — its assurance unbounded. It speedily
became distinguished, not by its publications or
discoveries, but by the number of princes it
enrolled in its list. It is needless now to expose

LEARNED SOCIETIES IN ENGLAND. 49

the extent of its short-lived quackery ; but the
evil deeds of that institution will long remain
in the impression they have contributed to con-
firm throughout Europe^ of the character of
our scientific establishments. It would be at
once a judicious and a dignified course^ if those
lovers of science^ who have been so grievously
deceived in this Society, were to enrol upon
the latest page of its history its highest claim
to public approbation, and by signing its disso-
lution, offer the only atonement in their power
to the insulted science of their country. As
with a singular inversion of principle, the society
contrived to render expulsion* the highest ho-
nour it could confer ; so it remains for it to
exemplify, in suicide, the sublimest virtue of
which it is capable.

* They expelled from amongst them a gentleman, of
whom it is but slight praise to say, that he is the first and
most philosophical botanist of our own country, and who is
admired abroad as he is respected at home. The circum*
stance which surprised the world was not his exit from,
but his previous entrance, into that Society.

mmm

CHAPTER IV.

STATE OF THE ROYAL^SOCIETY IN PARTICULAR.

As the venerable first parent of English, and
I might perhaps say, of European scientific so-
cieties; as a body in the welfare of which, in
the opinions of many, the interests of British
science are materially involved, I may be per-
mitted to feel anxiously, and tb speak more in
detaiL

Section 1.

Mode of becoming a Fellow of the Royal

Society.

I have no intention of stating what ought to
be the qualifications of a Fellow of the Royal
Society; but, for years, the practical mode of
arriving at that honour, has been as follows: —

A. B. gets any three Fellows to sign a cer-
tificate, stating that he (A. B.) is desirous of
becoming a member, and likely to be a useful
and valuable one. This is handed in to the
Secretary, and suspended in the meeting-room.

FELLOWS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY. 51

At the end of ten weeks, if A. B. has the good
fortune to be perfectly unknown by any literary
or scientific achievement, however small, he is
quite sure of being elected as a matter of course.
If, on the other hand, he has unfortunately
written on any subject connected with science,
or is supposed to be acquainted with any branch
of it, the members begin to inquire what he

I has done to deserve the honour ; and; unless he

has powerful friends, he has a fair chance of being

i black-balled,*

In fourteen years' experience, the few whom
I have seen rejected, have all been known per-
sons ; but even in such cases a hope remains ; —
perseverance will do much, and a gentleman
who values so highly the distinction of admission
to the Royal Society, may try again ; and even
after being twice black-balled, if he vnll a third
time condescend to express his desire to become
a member, he may perhaps succeedr by the aid
of a hard canvass. In such circumstances, the
odds are much in favour of the candidate pos-

* I understand that certificates are now read at the Coun*
cil, previously to their being hung up in the meeting-room ;
but I am not aware that this has in the slightest degree di-
minished their number, which was, at the time of writing
this note, twenty-four,

-^ ■•\--

52 FELLOWS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY.

sessing great scientific claims; and the only
objection that could then reasonably be. sug«
gesled, would arise from his estimating rather r-
too highly a distinction which had become in-*
significant from its unlimited extension. |

It should be observed^ that all members con-
tribute equally, and that the sum now required
is fifty pounds. It used, until lately, to be ten
pounds on entrance, and four pounds annually.
The amount of this subscription is so large, that
it is calculated to prevent many men of real
science from entering the Society, and is a very
severe tax on those who do so ; for very few
indeed of the cultivators of science rank amongst
the wealthy classes. Several times, whilst I have
beea consulting books or papers at Somerset
House, persons have called to ask the Assistant- i

secretary the mode of becoming a member of the
Royal Society. I should conjecture, from some
of these applications, that it is not very unusual
for gentlemen in the country to order their
agents in London to take measures for putting
them up at the Royal Society.

1
I

i-^

;

.1^ I

Section 2.

Of the Presideticy and Vice^Presidencies.

AMiy Mr. Davies Gilbert became President of
the Royal Society I cannot precisely say. Let
him who penned, and those who supported this
resolution solve the enigma.

1 " It was Resolved,

*' That it is the opinion of the Council that
Davies Gilbert, Esq. is by far the most fit person
to be proposed to the Society at the approach-
ing anniversary as President, and that he be
" recommended accordingly."

To resolve that he was a Jit person might have
been sufficiently flattering : to state that he was
the most fit, was a little hard upon the rest of
the Society ; but to resolve that he was '* by Jar
, the niost fit^ was only consistent with that strain

\^ of compliment in which his supporters indulge,

and was a eulogy, by no means unique in its
kind, I believe, even at that very Council.

That Mr. Gilbert is a most amiable and kind-
hearted man will be instantly admitted by all
who are, in the least degree, acquainted with
him : that he is fit for the chair of the Royal

I
I

I '

*^* m m^^ m ^m i

54 PRESIDENCY AND VICEPRESIDENCIES.

Society, will be allowed by few, except those
who have committed themselves to the above-
quoted resolution.

Possessed of knowledge and of fortune more
than sufficient for it, he might have been the
restorer of its lustre. He might have called
round him, at the council board, those most
actively engaged in the pursuits of science, most
anxious for the** improvement of the Royal So-
ciety. Instead of himself proposing resolutions,
he might have been, what a chairman ought to
be, the organ of the body over which he presides.
By the firmness of his own conduct he might
have taught the subordinate officers of the So-
ciety the duties of their station. Instead of
paying compliments to Ministers, who must have
smiled at. his simplicity, he might have main-
tained the dignity of his Council by the dignity
of knowledge.

But he has chosen a different path ; with no
motives of interest to allure, or of ambition to
betray him, instead of making himself respected
as the powerful chief of a united republic, —
that of science, — he has grasped at despotic
power, and stands the feeble occupant of its deso-
lated kingdom, trembling at the force of opinions
he might have directed, and refused even the

PRESIDENCY AND VICE-PRESIDENCIES. 55

patronage of their names by those whose energies
he might have commanded.

Mr, Gilbert told the Society he accepted the
situation for a year ; and this circumstance caused
a difficulty in finding a Treasurer: an office
which he had long held^ and to which he wished
to return.

Another difficulty might have arisen^ from the
fact of the late Board of Longitude comprising
amongst its Members the President of the Royal
Society, and three of its Fellows, appointed by
the President and Council. Of course, when
Mr. Gilbert accepted the higher situation, he
became, ex officio, a Member of the Board of
Longitude ; and a vacancy occurred, which ought
to have been filled up by the President and
Council. But when this subject was brought
before them, in defiance of common sense, and
the plain meaning of the act of parliament,
which had enacted that the Board of Longitude
should have the assistance of four persons be-
longing to the Royal Society, Mr. Gilbert refused
to allow it to be filled up, on the ground that
he should not be President next year, and had
made no vacancy.

Next year Mr. Gilbert wished again to be
i President one other year; but the Board of

■^n

56 THE SECRETARISUIPS.

Longitude was dissolved, otherwise we might have
had some locum tenens to retire at Mr. Gilbert's
pleasure*

These circumstances are in themselves of
trifling importance, but they illustrate the cha-
racter of the proceedings : and it is not beconung
the dignity of science or of the Society that its
officers should be so circumstanced as to have an
apparent and djrect interest in supporting the
existing President, in order to retain their own
places ; and if such a system is once' discovered,
doubt immediately arises as to the frequency of
such arrangements.

Section 3.

Of the Secretariships.

Whether the present Secretaries are the best
qualified to aid in reforming the Society, is a
question I shall not discuss. With regard to
the senior Secretary, the time of his holding
office is perhaps more unfortunate than the
circumstance. If I might be permitted to allude
for a moment to his personal character, I should
say that the mild excellencies of his heart have
prevented the Royal Society from deriving the
whole of that advantage from his varied know-

THE SECRETARISHIPS. 57

ledge and liberal sentiments which some might
perhaps have anticipated ; and many will agree
with me in regretting that his judgment has not
directed a larger portion of the past deeds of the
Councils of the Royal Society. Of the junior
Secretary I shall only observe, that whilst I
admit his industry, his perseverance, and his
talents, I regret to see such valuable qualities
exerted at a disadvantage, and that I sincerely
wish them all the success they merit in situations
more adapted for their developement.

There are, however, some general principles
which it may be important to investigate, which
relate to the future as well as to the past state
of the oflSce of Secretary of the Royal Society.
Inconvenience has already arisen from having
had at a former period one of our Secretaries
the conductor of a scientific journal ; and this is
one of the points in which I can agree with those
who now manage the affairs of the Society.*
Perhaps it might be advantageous to extend
the same understanding to the other officers
of the Society at least, if not to the members
of its Council.

♦ These observations were written previous to the late
appointment, to which I now devote Section 5. Experience
seems to be lost on the Council of the Royal Society.

I t\ , m wii ^

58 THE SECRET ARISHIPS.

Another circumstance worthy of the attention
of the Society is, to consider whether it is desir-
able, except in special cases, to have military
persons appointed to any of its offices. There
are several peculiarities in the military character,
which, though they do not absolutely unfit their
possessors for the individual prosecution of sci-
ence, may in some degree disqualify such persons
froih holding offices in scientific institutions. The
habits both of obedience and command, which are
essential in military life, are little fitted for that
perfect freedom which should reign in the councils
of science. If a military chief commit an over-
sight or an error, it is necessary, in order to retain
the confidence of those he commands, to conceal
or mask it as much as possible. If an experi-
mentalist make a mistake, his only course to win
the confidence of his fellow-labourers in science,
and to render his future observations of any use,
is to acknowledge it in the most full and explicit
manner. The very qualifications which contri-
bute to the professional excellence of the soldier,
constitute his defects when he enters the paths of
science ; and it is only in those rare cases where
the force of genius is able to control and surmount
these habits, that his admission to the offices of
science can be attended with any advantage to it.

THE SECRETARISHIPS.

-J*

Another objection desernng notice, although
not applying exclusively to the military profes-
sion, is, that persons not imbued with the
feelings of men of science, when they have pub-
lished their observations, are too apt to view
every criticism upon them as a personal ques-
tion, and to consider that it is as offensive to
doubt the accuracy of their observations as it
is to doubj; their word. Nothing can be more
injurious to science than that such an opinion
should be tolerated. The most unreserved
criticism is necessary for truth; and those sus-
picions respecting his own accuracy, which every
philosophical experimenter will entertain con-
cerning his own researches, ought never to be
considered as a reproach, when they are kept in
view in examining the experiments of others.
The minute circumstances and apparently trivial
causes which lend their influence towards error,
even in persons of the most candid judgment, are
amongst the most curious phenomena of the
human mind.

The importance of affording every aid to
enable others to try the merits of observations,
has been so well expressed by Mayer, that I
shall conclude these remarks with an extract
from the Preface to his Observations :

rjaa

60 THE SECRETARISIIIPS.

"Officii enim cuj usque observatoris esse reor,
de habitu instrumenti sui^ de cura ac precau-
tione^ qua usus est, ad illud recte tractandum^
deque mediis in errores ejus inquirendi rationem
reddere publice, ut aliis quoque copia sit judi-
caiidi, quanta fides habenda conclusionibus ex
" nostris observationibus deductis aut deducendis.
Hoc cum minus fecissent precedentis sseculi
\istronomi> praxin nimis secure, nimisque theo-
retice tractantes, factum inde potissimum est,
ut illorum observationes tot vigiliis tantoque
labore coraparatae tam cito obsoleverint.** P. viii.

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It

There are certain duties which the Royal
Society owes to its own character as well as
to the public, which, having been on some oc-
casions apparently neglected, it may be here the
proper place to mention, since it is reasonable
to suppose that attention to them is within the
province of its Secretaries.

The first to which I shall allude is the singular
circumstances attending the fact of the Royal
Society having printed a volume of Astronomical
Observations which were made at the Observa-
tory of Paramatta (New South Wales), bearing
the title of '' The Third Part of the Philosophical
Transactions for the Year 1829."

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fr. '

THE SECRETARISHIPS, 61

Now this Observatory was founded at the j

private expense of a British officer ; the instru-
ments were paid for out of his purse; two
observers were brought from Europe, to be em-
ployed in making use of those instruments, at
salaries defrayed by him, A considerable por-
tion of the observations so printed were made
by these astronomers during their employment i

in his service, and some of them are personally
his own. Yet has the Royal Society, in adopting
them as part of its Transactions, omitted aU
^« mention, either in their title-page, preface, or

in any part of the volume, of the Jact that the
world owed these valuable observations to the
enlightened munificence of Lieutenant-General
Sir Thomas Brisbane; whose ardent zeal in the
pursuit of science induced him to found, at his
own private expense, an establishment which it
has been creditable to the British Government to
continue as a national institution. Had any
kindred feelings existed in the Council, instead
of endeavouring to shift the responsibility, they
would have hastened to rectify an omission, less j

unjust to the individual than it was injurious
to English science.

Another topic, which concerns most vitally
'^- the character and integrity of the Royal Society,

)

62 THE SECRETARISHIPS.

I hardly know how to approach. It has been
publicly stated that confidence cannot be placed
in the written minutes of the Society; and an
I instance has been adduced^ in which an entry

has been asserted to have been made^ which
could not have been the true statement of what
actually passed at the Council.

iThe facts on which the specific instance rests
are not difficult to verify by members of the
Royal Society. I have examined them, and
shall state them before I enter on the reasoning
which may be founded upon them. In the mi-
nutes of the Council, 26th November, 1829, we
find—

''Resolved, that the following gentlemen be
recommended to be put upon the Council for
the ensuing year.** [[Here follows a list of per-
sons, amongst whom the name of Sir John
Franklin* occurs, and that of Captain Beaufort
is not found.f 3

* Sir John Franklin was absent from London, and a1to«
gether unacquainted with this transaction, until he saw it
stated in the newspapers some months after it had taken
place. That his name was the one substituted for that of
Captain Beaufort I know, from other evidence which need
not be produced here, as the omission of the latter name
is the charge that has been made.

•)■ Any gentleman may satisfy himself that this is not a
mistake of the Assistant Secretary's, in copying, by consult-

THE SECRETARISHIPS,

Now this could not be the list actually recom-
mencled by the Council on the morning of the
26th of November, because the President him-
self, on the evening of that day, informed Capt.
Beaufort that he was placed on the house list ;
and that officer, with the characteristic openness
of his profession, wrote on the next or* the fol-
lowing day to the President, declining that
situation, and stating his reasons for the step.

Upon the fact, therefore, of the suppression of
part of a resolution of the Council, on the 26th of
November, there can be no doubt ; but in order
to understand the whole nature of the transac-
tion, other information is necessary. It has been
the wish of many members of the Society, that
the President should not absolutely name his
own Council, but that the subject should be
discussed fairly at the meeting previous to the
Anniversary — this has always been opposed by

ing the rough minutes of that meeting of the Council, which
it might perhaps he as well to write in a rough minute-
book, instead of upon loose sheets of paper ; nor can it be
attributed to any error arising from accidentally mislaying
the real minutes, for in that case the error would have been
rectified immediately it was detected; and this has remained
uncorrected, although publicly spoken of for months. As
there is no erasure in the list, one is reluctantly compelled
to conjecture that the real minutes of that meeting have
been destroyed.

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64 THE SECRETARISHIPS.

Mr, Gilbert, and those who support him. Now,
it has been stated, that, at the meeting of the
Council on the 26th of November, the President
took out of his pocket a bit of paper, from which
he read the names of several persons as fit to be
on the Council for the ensuing year; — that it
was not understood that any motion was made,
and it is certain that none was seconded, nor
was any ballot taken on such an important
question ; and it was a matter of coTisiderable
surprise to some of those present, to discover
afterwards that it was entered on the minutes
as a resolution. This statement I have endea-
voured to verify, and I believe it to be sub-
stantially correct ; if it was a resolution, it was
dictated, not discussed. It is also important to
observe, that no similar resolution stands on the
council-books for any previous year.

On examining the minutes of the succeeding
Council, no notice of the letter of Captain
Beaufort to the President is found. Why was
it omitted ? If the first entry had been truly
made, there would have been no necessity for
the omission ; and after the insertion of that
letter, a resolution would naturally have fol-
lowed, recommending another name instead of
the one withdrawn. Such was the natural and

rsm

THE SECRETARISHIPS.

open course ; but this would have exposed to
the Society the weakness of those who manage
it. If the rough minutes of each meeting of the
Council were read over before it separated, and
were copied previously to the next meeting, such
a substitution could hardly have occurred ; but,
unfortunately, this is not the case, and the delay
is in some cases considerable. Thus, the minutes
of the three Councils, held on February 4, on
February 11, and on March 11, were not entered
on the minute-books of the Council on Tuesday,
the 16th March ; nor was this the fault of the
Assistant-secretary, for up to that day the rough
minutes of no one of those Councils had been
transmitted to him.

Deeply as every friend to the Royal Society
must regret such an occurrence, one slight ad-
vantage may accrue. Should that resolution be
ever quoted hereafter to prove that the Council
of 1829 really discussed the persons to be recom-
mended as their successors, the detection of this
suppression of one portion of it, will furnish
better means of estimating the confidence due
to the whole.

66 THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

Section 4.

Of the Scientific Advisers.

Whether it was feared by the party who
govern the Royal Society, that its Council would
not be sufficiently tractable, or whether the Ad-
miralty determined to render that body com-
pletely subservient to them, or whether both
these motives concurred, I know not; but, low
as has been for years its character for inde-
pendence, and fallen as the Royal Society is in
public estimation, it could scarcely be prepared
for this last insult. In order to inform the public
and the Society, (for I believe the fact is known
to few of the members,) it will be necessary to
trace the history of those circumstances which
led to the institution of the offices of Scientific
Advisers, from the time of the existence of the
late Board of Longitude.

That body consisted, according to the act of
parliament which established it, of certain offi-
cial members, who usually possessed no know-
ledge of the subjects it was the duty of the
I Board to discuss — of certain professors of the

f^t^fm

THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

two universities, and the Astronomer Royal, who
had some knowledge, and who were paid 100/.
a year for their attendance ; — of three honorary
members of the Royal Society, who combined
the qualifications of the two preceding classes ;
and, lastly, of '^ three other persons," named
Resident Commissioners, who were supposed to
be "well versed in the sciences of mathema-
tics, astronomij, or navigation," and who were
paid a hundred a year to do the work of the
Board.

The first three classes were permanent mem-
bers, but the " three other persons'* only held
the appointment for ojte year, and were renew-
able at the pleasure of the Admiralty. This
Board was abolished by another act of parlia-
ment, on the ground that it was useless. Shortly
after, the Secretary of the Admiralty communi-
cated to the Council of the Royal Society, the
copy of an Order in Council :

Sir,

Admiraliy Office^ November 1, \S2H.

I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the
Admiralty, to send herewith, for the information of the
President and Council of the Royal Society, a copy of
His Majesty*s Order in Council of the 27th of last
month ; explaining that the salaries heretofore allowed

O'S THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

to the Resident Commissioners of the Board of Lon-
gitude, and to the Superintendents of the Nautical
Almanac, and of Chronometers, shall be continued to
them, notwithstanding the abolition of the Board of
Longitude. And I am to acquaint you, that the neces-
sary orders have been given to the Navy Board for the
pa\'ment of the said salaries.

I am. Sir,
Your most obedient humble servant,

John Barrow.

At the Court at Windsor,

ftJth October, 1828.

PRESENT,

The King's most Excellent Majesty in Council,

Whereas, there was this day read at the Board a
Memorial from the Right Honourable the Lords Com-
missioners of the Admiralty, dated 4th of this instant,
in the words following, rix. —

Whereas, by an Act of the 58th of his late Majesty's
reign, cap. 20, intituled " An Act for the more effectu-
ally discovering the Longitude at sea, and encouraging
attempts to find a Northern passage between the Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans, and to approach the North Pole,"
three persons well versed in the sciences of Mathematics,
Astronomy, or Navigation, were appointed as a Resident
Committee of the Board of Commissioners for dis-
covery of the Longitude at sea, and a Superintendent of
the Nautical Almanac and of Chronometers was also
appointed, with such salaries for the execution of those

'-^

THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

sen'ices as his Majesty might, by any Order in Council,
be pleased to direct ; and, whereas, your Majesty was in
consequence, by your Order in Council of the 27th of
May, 1828, most graciously pleased to direct, that the
three said Resident Commissioners should be paid at the
rate of 100/. a year each ; and by your further Order in
Council, of the 31st October, 1818, that the Superin-
tendent of the Nautical Almanac should be allowed a
salary of 300/., and the Superintendent of Chronometers
100/. a year; and, whereas, the act above mentioned
has been repealed, and the Board of Longitude abo-
lished; and doubts have therefore arisen, whether the
said Orders in Council shall still continue in force ; and
whereas it is expedient that the said appointments be
continued ; We beg leave most humbly to submit to your
Majesty, that your Majesty may be graciously pleased,
by your Order in Council, to direct that the said offices
of Superintendent of the Nautical Almanac, and of
Superintendent of Chronometers ; and also the three per-
sons before-mentioned as a Resident Committee, to
advise with the Commissioners for executing the Office
of Lord High Admiral, on all questions of discoveries,
inventions, calculations, and other scientific subjects,
be continued, with the same duties and salaries, and
under the same regulations as heretofore; and further
beg most humbly to propose, that such three persons
to form the Resident Committee, be chosen annually
by the Commissioners for executing the office of Lord
High Admiral, firom among the Council of the Royal
Society.

His Majesty, having taken the said Memorial into
consideration, was pleased, by and with the advice of
his Privy Council, to approve thereof, and the Right

70 THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

Honourable the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty
are to give the necessary directions herein accordingly.

(Signed) James Hiller.

Thus, it appeared that the Admirdty were to
choose three persons from among the Council of
the Royal Society, who were to have a hundred
a year each during the pleasure of the Admiralty.

Such an open attack on the independence of
the Council could not escape the remarks of
some of the members, and a kind of mild remon-
strance was made, in which the real ground of
complaint was omitted.

MINUTE OF COUNCIL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY.

December 18, 1828.
Resolved, That in acknowledging the communication
of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, made to
the Council of the Royal Society, on the 20th of No-
vember last, it be represented to them that inconvenience
may arise from the plan therein specified, from the
circumstance of all the members of the Coimcil bemg
annually elected by the Society at large; and that
body being consequently subject to continual changes
from year to year.

This was answered by the following letter
from the Secretary of the Admiralty :

Admiralty Office^ Dec. 80, 1828.
Sir,

Having submitted to my Lords Commissioners of the

Admiralty your Letter of the 18th instant, subjoining

an extract from the Minutes of the proceedings of the

THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

i.'

Council of the Royal Society, arising out of the com-
munication made to them by their Lordships, on the
subject of his Majesty's Order in Council, of the 27th
of October last, I have their Lordships' command to
acquaint you, for the information of the President and
Council, and with reference to what they have stated
as to the inconvenience which may arise from the in-
tended plan of limiting their Lordships' choice of mem-
bers of the Resident Committee of Scientific Advice
to the Council of the Royal Society, that their Lord-
ships were induced to recommend this plan to his
Majesty as a mark of respect to the Society, and as a
pledge to the public of the qualification of the persons
chosen. Nor did their Lordships apprehend any in-
convenience from the circumstance stated in the Minute
of the Council, of the Members being annually elected,
as the Resident Committee is also annually appointed ;
and, in point of fact, no practical inconvenience has been
felt during the ten years that the Committee has been
in existence, as four of the distinguished gentlemen
whom their Lordships have successively appointed to
this office, have continued during the whole period
to be members of the Council; and if any such difficulty
or inconvenience should hereafter arise, their Lordships
will be ready to take proper measures for remedying it.

Their Lordships' intention therefore is, to propose to
Captain Kater and Mr. Herschel, to continue to fill this
office ; and to Dr. Young, who had resigned it, on
receiving the appointment of Secretary to the late Board
of Longitude, to be appointed.

I am. Sir,

Your obedient servant,

John Barrow.

I •

I ■

■M^Nn

72 THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

The representation made by the Council was
not calculated to produce much effect; but the
Secretary of the Admiralty, who knew well the
stuff of which Councils of the Royal Society
are composed, might have spared the bitter irony
of making their Lordships say, that they recom-
mended this plan "as a mark of respect to tJw
Society,"* and *' as a pledge to the public of the
qualifications of the persons chosen" whilst he
delicately hints to them their dependent situa-
tion, by observing, that the " Resident Committee
** is also annually appointed/*

The Secretary knew that, practically speak-
ing, it had been the custom for years for the
President of the Royal Society to nominate the
Council, and consequently he knew that every
scientific adviser must first be mdebted to the
President for being qualified to advise, and then
to the Admiralty for deriving profit from his
counsel. Thus then their Lordships, as a "mark
*' of respect for the Society ^ confirm the depen-
dence of the Council on the President, by making
his nomination a qualification for place, and
establish a new dependence of the same Council
on themselves, by giving a hundred pounds each
year to such three members of that Council as
they may select. "The pledge** they offer "to

THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS. 73

€€

the inihlic, of tlie qualifications of the 2^^^sons

chosen/* is, that Mr. Davies Gilbert had pre-
viously thought they would do for his Council.

What the Society, when they are acquainted ^

with it, may think of this mark of respect, or
what value the public may put upon this pledge,
must be left to themselves to express.

In looking over the list of officers and
Council of the Royal Society the weakest per-
haps (for purposes of science) which was ever
made, a consolation arises from the possibility •
of some of those who were placed there by
way of compliment, occasionally attending. In
that contracted field Lord Melville's penetra-
\l, tion may not be uselessly employed; and the

i soldier who presides over our colonies may judge

whether the principles which pervade it are open
and liberal as his own.

The inconvenience to the public service from
such an arrangement is, that the number out of
which the advisers are selected must, in any case,
be very small ; and may, from several circum-
stances, be considerably reduced. In a council
fairly selected, to judge of the merits of the
various subjects likely to be brought under the
consideration of the Society, anatomy, chemistry,
and the different branches of natural history, will

74 THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

share with the numerous departments of physical
science, in claiming to be represented by persons
competently skilled in those subjects. These
claims being satisfied, but few places will be left
to fill up with mathematicians, astronomers, and
persons conversant with nautical astronomy.

Let us look at the present Council. Is there
a single mathematician amongst them, if we
except Mr. Barlow, whose deservedly high repu-
tation rests chiefly on his physical and experi-
. mental inquiries, and whom the President and
the Admiralty have clearly shown they do not
look upon as a mathematician, by not appointing
him an adviser ?

Small as the number of those persons on the
Council, who are conversant with the three sub-
jects . named in the Act of Parliament, must
usually be, it may be still further diminished.
The President, when he forms his Council, may
decline naming those members who arc most fit
for such situations. Or, on the other hand, some
of those members who are best qualified for them,
from their knowledge, may decline the honour
of being the nominees of Mr. Gilbert, as Vice
Presidents, Treasurers, or Councillors, and thus
lending their names to support a system of which
they disapprove.

THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

Whether the first of these causes has ever
operated can be best explained by those gentle-
men who have been on the Council. The re-
fusals are, notwithstanding the President's taci-
turnity on the subject, better known than he is
willing that they should be.

Having discussed the general policy of the
measure, with reference both to the Society and
to the public, and without the slightest reference
to the individuals who may have refused or ac-
cepted those situations, I shall now examine the
propriety of the appointments that have been
made.

Doubtless the gentlemen who now hold those
situations either have never considered the in-
fluence such a mode of selection would have on
the character of the Council ; or, having con-
sidered it, they must have arrived at a different
conclusion from mine. There may, however, be
arguments which I have overlooked, and a dis-
cussion of them must ultimately lead to truth :
but I confess that it appears to me the objections
which have been stated rest on principles of
human nature, too deeply seated to be easily
removed.

That I am not singular in the view I have
taken of this subject, appears from several cir-

76 THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

cumstances. A question was asked respecting
these appointments at the Anniversary before the
last ; and, from the nature of the answer, many of
the members of the Society have been led to be-
lieve the objections have been removed. Several
Fellows of the Society, who knew these facts,
thought it inexpedient ever to vote for placing
any gentleman on the Council who had accepted
these situations ; and, having myself the same
view of the case, I applied to the Council to be
informed of the names of the present Scientific
Advisers. But although they remonstrated against
the principle, they replied that they had ";jo
'^ cos^iizance"* of the fact.

The two first members of the Council^ Mr.
Herschel and Captain Kater, who were so ap-
pointed, and who had previously been Resident
Commissioners under the Act, immediately re-
fused the situations. Dr. Young became one of the
Advisers ; and Captain Sabine and Mr. Faraday
were appointed by the Admiralty as the two re-
maining ones. Of Dr. Young, who died shortly
after, I shall only observe that he possessed know-
ledge which qualified him for the situation.

Whether those who at present fill these oflices
can be said to belong to that class of persons
which the Order in Council and the Act of Par-

THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

liament point out, is a matter on which douht
may reasonahly he entertained. The Order in
Council speaks of these three persons as being
the same, and having the " smne duties " as those
mentioned in the Act ; and it recites the words of
the Act, that they shall be persons *' well versed
'' in the sciences of mathematics^ astronomy, and
" navigation!* Of the fitness of the gentlemen
who now hold those situations to pronounce judg-
ment on mathematical questions, the public will
be better able to form an opinion when they shall
have communicated to the world any of their
own mathematical inquiries. Although it is the
practice to consider that acceptance of office is
alone necessary to qualify a man for a statesman,
a similar doctrine has not yet prevailed in the
world of science. One of these gentlemen, who
has established his reputation as a chemist, stands
in the same predicament with respect to the
other two sciences. It remains then to consider
Captain Sabine's claims, which must rest on his
skill in ** practical astronomy and navigation,*' —
a claim which can only be allowed when the
scientific world are set at rest respecting the
extraordinary nature of those observations con-
tained in his work on the Pendulum.

That volume, printed under the authority of

■J( ■■■ * ■ ■ U ■ I ■■VIIIIB) ■(■

78 THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

the Board of Longitude^ excited at its appearance
considerable attention. The circumstance of the
Government providing instruments and means of
transport for the purpose of these inquiries,
placed at Captain Sabine's disposal means su-
perior to those which amateurs can generally
afford, whilst the industry with which he availed
himself of these opportunities, enabled him to
bring home multitudes of observations from situ-
ations rarely visited with such instruments, and

for such purposes.

The remarkable agreement with each other,
which was found to exist amongst each class of
observations, was as unexpected by those most
conversant with the respective processes, as it
was creditable to one who had devoted but a few
years to the subject, and who, in the course of
those voyages, used some of the instruments for
the first time in his life.

This accordance amongst the results was such,
that naval officers of the greatest experience, con-
fessed themselves unable to take such lunars ;
whilst other observers, long versed in the use of the
transit instrument, avowed their inability to take
such transits. Those who were conversant with
pendulums, were at a loss how to make, even
under more favourable circumstances, similarly

9V«PV

THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

concordant observations. The same opinion
prevailed on the continent as well as in England.
On whatever subject Captain Sabine touched^
the observations he published seemed by their
accuracy to leave former observers at a distance.
The methods of using the instruments scarcely
differed in any important point from those before
adopted ; and, but for a fortunate discovery,
which I shall presently relate, the world must
have concluded that Captain Sabine possessed
some keenness of vision, or acuteness of touch,
which it would be hopeless for any to expect to rival.
The Council of the Royal Society spared no
pains to stamp the accuracy of these observations
with their testimony. They seem to have thrust
Captain Sabine's name perpetually on their mi-
nutes, and in a manner which must have been
almost distressing: they recommend him in a
letter to the Admiralty, then in another to the
Ordnance ; and several of the same persons, in
their other capacity, as members of the Board of
Longitude, after voting him a thousand pounds
for these observations, are said to have again re-
commended him to the Master-General of the
Ordnance. That an officer, commencing his
scientific career, should be misled by such praises,
was both natural and pardonable ; but that the

■<

n^mmm^^^^'^'f^mii'^mmm

SO THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

Council of the Royal Society should adopt their
opinion so heedlessly, and maintain it so perti-
naciour^ly, was as cruel to the observer as it was
injurious to the interests of science.

It might have been imagined that such
praises, together with the Copley medal, pre-
sented to Captain Sabine by the Royal Society,
and tlie medal of Lalande, given to him by
the Institute of France, had arisen from such
a complete investigation of his observations, as
should place them beyond the reach even of cri-
ticism. But, alas ! the Royal Society may write,
and nobody will attend; its medals have lost their
lustre : i^nd even the Institute of France may find
that tlu irs cannot confer immortality. That learned
body i> ill ^^^ habit of making most interesting
and iSrc>found reports on any memoirs communi-
cated to it; nothing escapes the penetration of
their o.'mmittees appointed for such purposes.
Surely, when they enter on the much more im-
portan: subject of the award of a medal, unusual
pains v^ust be taken with the previous report,
and it -'^igl^t, perhaps, be of some advantage to
science, and might furnish their admirers with
arguments in their defence, if they would pub-
blish V it on which the decree of their Lalande's
medal :.' Captain Sabine was founded.

|l«Wt *M»

THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

It is far from necessary to my present object,
to state all that has been written and said re-
specting these pendulum experiments : I shall
confine myself merely to two points ; one, the
transit observations, I shall allude to, because I
may perhaps show the kind of feeling that exists
respecting them» and possibly enable Captain
Sabine to explain them. The other point, the
error in the estimation of the division of the
level, I shall discuss, because it is an admitted
fact.

Some opinion may be formed of transit obser-
vations, by taking the difierence of times of the
passage of any star between the several wires ;
supposing the distances of those wires equal, the
intervals of time occupied by the star in passing
from one to the other, ought to be precbely the
same. As those times of passing from one wire
to another are usually given to seconds and tenths
of seconds, it rarely happens that the accordance
is perfect.

The transit instrument used by Captain Sa-
bine was thirty inches in length, and the wires
are stated to be equi-distant. Out of about 370
transits, there are eighty-seven, or nearly one-
fourth, which have the intervals between all the
wires agreeing to the same, the tenth of a second.

■^

S2 THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

At Sierra Leone, nineteen out of seventy -two requ

have the same accordance ; and of the moon cul- sugj

minating stars, p. 409, twelve out of twenty-four chro

are equally exact. With larger instruments, and sine*

in great observatories, this is not always the case. will

Captain Kater has given, in the Philosophical the

Transactions, 1819, p. 427, a series of transits, bee

with a three and a half foot transit, in which smf

about one-eleventh part of them only have this lar|

degree of accuracy; and it should be observed wil

that not merely the instrument, but the stars se- dif

lected, have, in this instance, an advantage over th(

Captain Sabine's. rc]

The transit of M. Bessel is five feet in length, w(

made by Frauenhofer, and the magnifying power th

employed is 182 ; yet, out of some observations dj

of his in January, 1826, only one-eleventh have gt

this degree of accordance. In thirty-three of b*

the Greenwich observations of January, 1828, tJ

fifteen have this agreement, or five-elevenths; n

but this is with a ten-feet transit. Now in none t

of these instances do the times agree within a ]

tenth of a second between all the wires; but ^
I have accounted those as agreeing in all the
wires in which there is not more than four-tenths
of a second between the greatest and least.

This superior accuracy of the small instrument

I
I

THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

requires some explanation. One which has been
suggested is, that Captain Sabine employs a
chronometer to observe transits with ; and that
since it beats five times in two seconds, each beat
will give four-tenths of a second ; and this being
the smallest quantity registered, the agreement
becomes more probable than if tenths were the
smallest quantities noticed. In general, the
larger the lowest unity employed the greater
will be the apparent agreement amongst the
differences. Thus, if, in the transit of stars near
the pole, the times of passing the wires were only
registered to the nearest minute, the intervals
would almost certainly be equal. There is ano-
ther circumstance, about which there is some
difficulty. It is understood that the same in-
strument, — the thirty-inch transit, was employed
by Lieutenant Foster ; and it has not been stated
that the wires were changed, although this has
most probably been the case. Now, in the
transits which the later observer has given, he
has found it necessary to correct for a consider-
able inequality between the first and second
wires (See Phil. Trans. 1827). If an erroneous
impression has gone abroad on this subject,
it is doing a service to science to insure its
correction, by drawing attention to it.

^u*

84 THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

Should these observations be confirmed by
other observers, it would seem to follow that the
use of a chronometer renders a transit more
exacts and therefore that it ought to be used in
observatories.

Among the instruments employed by Captain
Sabine^ was a repeating circle of six inches
diameter, made by order of the Board of Longi-
tude, for the express purpose of ascertaining how
far repeating instruments might be diminished in
size:— a most important subject, on which the
Board seem to have entertained a very com-
mendable degree of anxiety.

The following extract from the '' Pendulum
Experiments" is important :
.The repeating circle was made by the di-
^ rection, and at the expense of the Board of
Longitude, for the purpose of exemplifying the
principle of repetition when applied to a circle
'' of so small a diameter as six inches, carrjring a
telescope of seven inches focal length, and one
inch aperture; and of practically ascertaining
the degree of accuracy which might be retained,
whilst the portability of the instrument should
be increased, by a reduction in the size to half
the amount which had been previously re-
garded by the most eminent artists- as the

€€

it
tt
t€

i€
it
tt

€€

Si
€€
€€

THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS. 85

'* extreme limit of diminution to which repeat-
*' ing circles, designed for astronomical purposes,
*' ought to be carried.

The practical value of the six-inch repeating
circle may be estimated, by comparing the dif-
ferences of the partial results from the mean
at each station, with the correspondence of any
" similar collection of observations made with a
*' circle, on the original construction, and of large
" dimensions ; such, for instance, as the latitudes
" of the stations of the French arc, recorded in
*' the Base du Systhne Metrique : when, if due
** allowance be made for the extensive experience
" and great skill of the distinguished persons who
" conducted the French observations, the compa-
'' rison will scarcely appear to the disadvantage
" of the smaller circle, even if extended gene-
'^ rally through all the stations of the present
*' volume ; but if it be particularly directed to
Maranham and Spitzbergen, — at which stations
the partial results were more numerous than
" elsewhere, and obtained with especial regard
to every circumstance by which their accuracy
might be affected, the performance of the six-
inch circle will appear fully equal to that of
" circles of the larger dimension. The compa-
rison with the two stations, at which a more

€€

86 THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

*' than usual attention was bestowed, is the
more appropriate, because it was essential to
the purposes for which the latitudes of the
" French stations were required, that the ob-
servations should always be conducted with
the utmost possible regard to accuracy.

It would appear, therefore, that iu a repeat-
ing circle of six inches, the disadvantages of
a smaller image enabling a less precise contact
" or bisection, and of an arch of less radius ad-
'' mitting of a less minute subdivision, may be
" compensated by the principle of repetition."

Captain Sabine has pointed out Maranham
and Spitzbergen as places most favourable to the
comparison. Let us take the former of these
places, and compare the observations made there
with the small repeating instrument of six inches
diameter, with those made by the French astro-
nomers at Formentera, with a repeating circle of
forty-one centi-metres, or about sixteen inches
in diameter, made by Fortin. It is singular
that this instrument was directed, by the French
Board of Longitude, to be made expressly for
this survey, and the French astronomers paid
particular attention to it, from the circumstance
of some doubts having been entertained respect-
ing the value of the principle of repetition.

C. -

THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

The following series of observations were made
with the two instruments.*

Latitude deduced from Polaris, with a repeating circle,
16 inches diameter. — Base du Systime Metrique^ torn. It.
p. 376. 1807.

Number of
Observationi.

Latitude
of Formentera.

Names of Observers.

o / //
38 39 55-3

Biot

100

54-7

Arago

56-2

Biot

56-9

Biot

120

56-7

Arago

54*9

Biot

100

56-5

Arago

102

57-1

Arago

54-5

Biot

53-3

Arago

53-6

Arago

53-8

Arago

53-7

Arago

53-6

Chaix

54-1

Chaix

53-9

Arago

Mean of 1318 Observations, 38"

' 39' 54"-93.

* I have chosen the inferior meridian altitude of Polaris,
merely because the number of sets of observations are rather

THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

Sets of Observations made with a six-inch repeating

circle, at Maranham.

Scar.

Number of
Obsenrations.

Latitude deduced.

Obstnrer.

a Lyrs .

• / //
2 31 42*4

Capt. Sabine

a Lyrs .

43-8

Ditto

a Pavonis

44-5

Ditto

a LyrflB .

44*6

Ditto

a Cygni •

42-1

, Ditto

a Cruris .

42-2

Ditto

Mean latitude

deduced fro

m 66 observations 2" 31' 43"'3.

In comparing these results, although the
French observations were more than twenty
times as numerous as the English, yet the de-
viations of the individual sets from the mean are
greater. One second and three -tenths is the
greatest deviation from the mean of the Maran-
ham observations ; whilst the greatest deviation
of those of Formentera, is two seconds and two-
tenths. If this mode of comparison should be
thought unfair, on account of the greater number

fewer. The difference between the extremes of the altitude
of Polaris, deduced from sets taken above the pole by the
same observers, amounts to seven seconds and a half.

THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

of the sets in the French observations, let any
six, in succession, of those sets be taken, and
compared with the six English sets ; and it will
be found that in no one instance is tlie greatest
deviation from the mean of the whole of the
observations less than in those of Maranham.
It must also be borne in mind, that by the latitude
deduced by the mean of 1250 superior culmina-
tions of Polaris by the same observers, the latitude
of Formentera was found to be 38** 39' 57"-07,
a result differing by 2"- 14 from the mean of the
1318 inferior culminations given above.*

These facts alone ought to have awakened the
attention of Captain Sabine, and of those who
examined and officially pronounced on the merits
of his observations; for, supposing the skill of
the observers equal, it seems a necessary con-
sequence that ''the performance of the six-inch
circle is " not merely " fully equal to that of
circles of larger dimensions," but that it is deci-
dedly superior to one of sixteen inches in diameter.

* This difference cannot be accounted for by any diffe-
rence in the tables of refraction, as neither the employment of
those of Bradley, of Piazzi, of the French, of Groom-
bridge, of Young, of Ivory, of Bessel, or of Carlini, would
make a difference of two- tenths of a second.

I
it

rv •"' - •

90 THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

This opinion did indeed gain ground for a
time ; but, fortunately for astronomy, long after
these observations were made, published, and
rewarded. Captain Kater, having borrowed the
same instrument, discovered that the divisions of
its level, which Capain Sabine had considered to
be equal to one second each, were, in fact, more
nearly equal to eleven seconds, each one being
1(^'*9. This circumstance rendered necessary
a re-calculation of all the observations made
with that instrument:* a re-calculation which
I am not aware Captain Sabine has ever thought
it necessary to publish.

This is the more to be regretted, as it bears
upon a point of considerable importance to navi-
gation ; and if it should have caused any altera-
tion in his opinion as to the comparative merits
of great and small instruments, it might have
been expected from a gentleman, who was ex-
pressly directed by the Board of Longitude^ to

* Above two hundred sets of observations with this in-
strument are given in the work alluded to. It can never be
esteemed satisfactory merely to state the mean results of
the corrections arising from this error : for the confidence
to be attached to that mean will depend on the nature of the
deviations from it.

THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

try the question with an instrument constructed
for that especial purpose.

Finding that this has not been done by the
person best qualified for the task^ perhaps a few
remarks from one who has no pretensions to fa-
miliarity with the instrument, may tend towards
elucidating tliis interesting question.

The following table gives the latitudes as cor-
rected for the error of level :

]

Latitude

Station.

Star.

Ladtude

corrected for error

Diffe.

by Capt

Sabine.

ofleveL

■ VUW*

•

Sierra Leone

Sirius . •

27-9

34-7

6-8

Ascension •

a Centauri

46-7

40-1

6-6

Bahia . . •

a Lyrse .

19-4

21*4

2*0

a Lyrae .

21-2

49*8

31-4

a Pavonis

22-4

5-1

17-3

Maranham .

a Lyrse .
a Lyrse .
a Pavonis

42-4
43-8
44-5

31-8

20-4

12*0

•5

a Lyrae .

44*6

42-6

2*0

a Cygni .

42-1

39-2

2-9

a Cruris .

42-2

27-4

14-8

Trinidad . .

Achernar
a Cruris .
Achernar

56-1
52-2
59-3

58*2
50*8
56*6

2*1
1*4
2*7

Jamaica . .

Polaris .

8*6

17 56

4-6

4*0

•

6-6

3-3

New- York .

Sun • • .

Polaris .

Sun . . .

jSUrsaeMin'

40-1
48-9
41*4
42*3

44-6
38-2
47-2
58*4

4.5
10*7

5'S
16-1

Hammerfest

Sun . . .

5*3

7*2

1*9

Spitzbergen

Sun . . .
Sun . . .
Sun . .. .
Sun . . .
Sun . . .

561
55*9
58-6
59*3
55'S

58-6
44-8
5^-7
51*6
51-6

2-5
11*1
5-9
7-7
4*2

Sun . . .

1-5

57*0

4-5

Greenland ,

Sun . . .
Sun . . .

19*9
17*9

32*4
18-7

12-4
0-8

Drontheim .

Sun . . .

51-3

6-1 14-8

aUrsse Min*

57-2

49-4

7-8

THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

■^■<■

€€

This presents a very different view of the
latitudes as determined by the small repeating
circle, from that in Captain Sabine's book ; and
confining ourselves still to Maranham, where
the latitudes " were obtained, with especial regard
to every circumstance by which their accuracy
might be affected^ and where "a more than
'' usuxd attention was bestowed^ it appears, that
if we take Captain Sabine's own test, namely,
" the differences of the partial results from the
mean at each station," the deviations become
nearly ten times as large as they were before ; a
circumstance which might be expected to have
some influence in the decision of the question.

There is, however, another light in which it is
impossible to avoid looking at this singular over-
sight. The second column of the table of lati-
tudes must now be considered the true one, as
that which really resulted from the observations.
Now, on examining the column of true latitudes,
the differences between the different sets of ob-
servations is so considerable as naturally to ex-
cite some fear of latent error, more especially as
nearly the greatest discordance arises from the
same star, a Lyrs, observed after an interval
of only three days. It becomes interesting to
every person engaged in making astronomical

(

THE XlESnrtC AUVISERS.

ohurratioM, to know what is the probalnlitj of
his being exposed to an error so little to be
guarded against, and §o calculated to lull the
suspicions of the unfortunate astronomer to whom
it may happen^

In fact, the question resolves itself into this :
the true latitude of a place being determined by
sets of obsenrations as in the first of the follomng
columns —

True Ittitodcf obfcnrcd.

LalitadciM

comptttcd bya mwtikg

ofCspC Sabine't.

a Lyrae, 28th Aug. ... 2 31 22*0
a Lyrsy 29th Aug. • • • 31*8
a Pavonisy 29th Aug. . • 44*0
a LyraSp 3l8t Aug. . • . 42*6
a Cygniy 31st Aug. . . . 39*2
a Cruris, 2d Sept. . . . 27*4

• / //
2 31 42-4

43-8

44*5

44-6

42*0

42-2

what are the chances that, by one error all the
latitudes in the first column should be brought
so nearly to an agreement as they are in the
second column ? The circumstance of the num-

THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

ber of divisions of the level being almost arbi-
trary within limits, might perhaps be alleged as
diminishing this extraordinary improbability : but
let any one consider, if he choose the error of
each set, as independent of the others, still he
will find the odds against it enormous.

When it is considered that an error, almost
arbitrary in its law, has thus had the effect of
bringing discordant observations into an almost
unprecedented accordance, as at Maranham;
and not merely so, but that at eight of the nine
stations it has uniformly tended to diminish the
differences between the partial results, and
that at the ninth station it only increased
it by a small fraction of a second, I can-
not help feeling that it is more probable even
that Captain Kater, with all his admitted skill,
and that Captain Sabine himself, should have
been both mistaken in their measures of the
divisions of the level, than that so singular
an effect should have been produced by one
error; and I cannot bring myself to believe
that such an anticipation is entirely without
foundation.

Whatever may be the result of a re-examina-
tion, it was a singular oversight not to measure
the divisions of a level intended to be used for

._!.

96 THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

determining so important a question ; more par-
ticularly as, in the very work to which reference
was made by Captain Sabine for the purpose
of comparing the observations, it was the very
first circumstance which occupied the French
philosophers, and several pages* are filled with
the details relative to the determination of the
value of the divisions of the level. It would
also have been satisfactory, with such an impor-
^ tant object in view, to have read off some of

the sets after each pair of observatipns^ in order
to see how far the system of repetition made
the results gradually converge to a limit, and
in order to know how many repetitions were
sufficient. Such a course would almost certainly
have led to a knowledge of the true value of
the divisions of the level ; for the differences
in the altitude of the same star, after a few
minutes of time, must, in many instances, have
been far too great to have arisen from the
change of its altitude : and had these been no-
ticed, they must have been referred to some error
in the instrument, which could scarcely, in such
circumstances, have escaped detection.

♦ See pages -565 to 275 of the Recueil d* Observations
GSodesiques, ^c. par MM, Biot et Arago, which forms the
fourth volume of the Base du Syst^me Metrique.

THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

I have now mentioned a few of the difficulties
which attend Captain Sabine's book on the
pendulum, difficulties which I am far from say-
ing are inexplicable. He would be bold indeed
who, after so wonderful an instance of the effect
of chance as I have been just discussing, should
venture to pronounce another such accident im-
possible ; but I think enough has been said to
show, that the feeling which so generally prevails
relative to it, is neither captious nor unreason-
able.

Enough also has appeared to prove, that the
conduct of the Admiralty in appointing that
gentleman one of their scientific advisers, was,
under the peculiar circumstances, at least, un-
advised. They have thus lent, as far as they
could, the weight of their authority to support
observations which are now found to be erro-
neous. They have thus held up for imitation
observations which may induce hundreds of
meritorious officers to throw aside their instru-
ments, in the despair of ever approaching a
standard which is since admitted to be imaginary ;
and they have ratified the doctrine, for I am not
aware their official adviser has ever even modified
it, that diminutive instruments are equal almost
to the largest.

•4

98 THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS.

To what extent this doctrine is correct, may
perhaps yet admit of doubt. It cannot, however,
admit of a doubt, that it is unwise to crown
it with official authority, and thus expose the
officers of their service to depend on means which
may be quite insufficient for their purpose.

How the Board of Longitude, after expressly
directing this instrument to he made and tried,
could come* to the decision at which they arrived,
appears inexplicable. The known difference of
opinion amongst the best observers respecting
the repeating principle, ought to have rendered
them peculiarly cautious, nor ought the opinion
of a Troughton, that instruments of less than
one foot in diameter may be considered, **for
astronomy, as little better than playtMngs,^* to
have b6en rejected without the most carefully
detailed experiments. There were amongst that
body, persons who must have examined minutely
the work on the Pendulum. Captain Kater must
have felt those difficulties in the perusal of it
which other observers have experienced ; and he
who was placed in the Board of Longitude espe-
cially for his knowledge of instruments, might, in
a few hours, have arrived at more decisive facts,

* Memoirs of the Astronomical Society, Vol. I. p. 53,

THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS. 99

But perhaps I am unjust. Captain Kater's
knowledge rendered it impossible for him to
have been ignorant of the difficulties, and his
candour would have prevented him from con-
cealing them : he must, therefore, after examin-
ing the subject, have been outvoted by his
lay-brethren who had dispensed with that pre-
liminary.

It would be. unjust, before quitting this sub-
ject, not to mention with respect the acknow-
ledgment made by an officer of the naval service
of the errors into which he also fell from this
same level. Lieutenant Foster, aware of the
many occasions on which Captain Sabine had
employed this instrument, and knowing that he
considered each division as equal to one second,
never thought that a doubt could exist on the
subject, and made all his calculations accordingly.
When Captain Kater made him acquainted with
the mistake. Lieutenant Foster immediately com-
municated a paper^ to the Royal Society, in
which he states the circumstance most fuUy, and
recomputed all the observations in which that
instrument was used. Unfortunately, from the
original observations of Mr. Ross being left on

^ The paper of Lieutenant Foster is printed in the Philo- i

sopliical Transactions, 18^7, p. 122, and is worth consulting. )

T?"

100 UNION or SEVERAL OFFICES

board the Fury at the time of her loss, the tran-
scripts of his results could not be recomputed like
the rest, and were consequently useless.

Section 5.

Of the Union of several Offices in One Person.

Although the number of situations to which
persons conversant with science may hope to
be appointed, is small, yet it has .somewhat
singularly happened, that instances of one indi-
vidual, holding more than one such appoint-
ment, are frequent. Not to speak of those held
by the late Dr. Young, we have at present : —

Mr. PoxD — Astronomer Royal, Inspector of Chrono-
meters, and Superintendent of the Nautical Almanac.

Captain Sabine — An officer of artillery on leave of ab-
sence from his regiment ; Secretary of the Royal Society ;
and Scientific Adviser of the Admiralty.

Mr. Biu.KD£ — Clerk of the Irons at the Royal Mint ;
Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution ; Analyser
of Rough Nitre, &c. to the East-India Company ; Lecturer
on Materia Medica, Apothecaries* Hall; Superintending
Chemical Operator at ditto ; Lecturer on Chemistry at
ditto ; Editor of the Royal Institution Journal ; and Fo-'
reign Secretary to the Royal Society.

One should be led to imagine, from these
unions of scientific offices, either that science is

IN ONE PERSON.

101

too little paid, and that gentlemen cannot be
found to execute the offices separately at the
salaries offered ; or else, that it is too well paid,
since each requires such little attention, that al-
most any number can be executed by one person.

The Director of the Royal Observatory has
a larger and better collection* of instruments,
and more assistants to superintend, than any
other astronomer in the world; and, to do it
properly, would require the almost undivided
attention of a man in the vigour of youth. Nor
would a superintendent of the Nautical Alma-
nac, if he made a point of being acquainted with
every thing connected with his subject, find his
situation at all a sinecure. Slight as are the
duties of the Foreign Secretary of the Royal
Society, it might have been supposed that Mr.
Brande would scarcely, amongst his multifarious
avocations, have found time even for them. But
it may be a consolation to him to know, that from
the progress the Society is making, those duties
must become shortly, if they are not already,
almost extinct.

Doubtless the President, in making that ap-
pointment, looked most anxiously over the list
of the Royal Society. He doubtless knew that
the Academies of Sweden, of Denmark, of Scot-

102 UNION OF SEVERAL OFFICES, &C.

land, of Prussia, of Hanover, and of France,
derived honour from the discoveries of their
Secretaries; — that they prided themselves in
the names of Berzelius, of Oersted, of Brewster,
of Encke, of Gaus, and of Cuvier. Doubtless
the President must have been ambitious that
England should* contribute to this galaxy of
glory, that the Royal Society should restore
the lost Pleiad* to the admiring science of Eu-
rope. But he could discover no kindred name
amongst the ranks of his supporters, and forgot,
for a moment, the interest of the Society, in an
amiable consideration for the feelings of his
surrounding friends. For had the President
chosen a brighter star, the lustre of his other
officers might have been overpowered by its
splendour : but relieved from the pain of such
a contrast, he may still retain the hope, that,
by their united brightness, these suns of his
little system shall yet afford sufficient light to -
be together visible to distant nations, as a faint
nebula in the obscure horizon of English science.

* Pleiades, an assemblage of seven stars in the neck of
the constellation Taurus. There are now only six of
them visible to the naked eye.^ Muttons Dictionary — Art.

¥>1

FUNDS or THE SOCIETY. 103

Section 6.

Of the Funds of tlie Society.

Although the Society is not in a state ap-
proaching to poverty, it may be useful to offer a
few remarks respecting the distribution of its
money.

Expense of Engf^avings for Sir E. Homefs
Papers. — The great expense of the engravings
which adorn the volumes of the Philosophical
Tranactions, is not sufficiently known. . That
many of those engravings are quite essential for
the papers they illustrate, and that those papers
are fit for the Transactions, I do not doubt ; but,
some inquiry is necessary, when such large sums
are expended. I shall endeavour, therefore, to
approximate to the sum these engravings have
cost the Royal Society.

Previous to 1810, there are upwards of seventy
plates to papers of Sir E. Home's ; in many of
these, which I have purposely separated, the
workmanship is not so minute as in the sue-

101 FUNDS OF THE SOCIETY.

ceeding ones. Since 1810, there have occurred
187 plates attached to papers of the same author.
Many of these have cost from twelve to twenty
guineas each plate ; hut I shall take five pounds
as the average cost of the first portion, and
twelve as that of the latter. This would produce,

70 X 5 = 350
187 X 12 =s 2244

£2594

As this is only proposed as a rough approxi-
mation, let us omit the odd hundreds, and we
have two thousand pounds expended in plates
onlj/ on one hranch of science, and for one
person! Without calling in question the im-
portance of the discoveries contained in those
papers, it may he permitted to doubt whether
such a large sum might not have been expended
in a manner more beneficial to science. Not
being myself conversant with those subjects,
I can only form an opinion of the value from
extraneous circumstances. Had their import-
ance been at all equal to their number, I should
have expected to have heard amongst the learned
of other countries much more frequent mention
of them than I have done, and even the Coun-
cil of the Royal Society would scarcely have

t> *

FUNDS OF THE SOCIETY. 105

excluded from their Transactions one of those
productions which they had paid for as a lec-
ture.

It might also have been more delicate not
to have placed on the Council so repeatedly
a gentleman, for whose engravings they were
annually expending, during the last twenty
years, about an hundred pounds. On the other
hand, when the Council lent Sir E. Home the \

whole of those valuable plates to take off im-
pressions for his large work on Comparative
Anatomy, of which they constitute almost the
whole, it might have been as well not to have
obliterated from each plate all indication of the
source to which he was indebted for them.

The Presidents Discourses. — I shall mention
this circumstance, because it fell under my own
observation.

Observing in the annual accounts a charge of
381/. 5*. for the President's Speeches, I thought
it right to inquire into the nature of this item.
Happening to be on the Council the next year,
I took an opportunity, at an early meeting of
that Council, to ask publicly for an explanation
of the following resolution, which stands in the
Council-books for Dec. 21, 1826.

106 rtStfS OF THE bOCI£TT.

''Ke3oUjod, That 500 copies of the Preadent's
Discoarses , aboat to be printed bj Mr. Mmraj,
be parchased by the Society, at the usual trade
price***

The answer given to that question was, '^ tAai
^ the Council had agreed to purchase these
^ volumes at tluU price, in order to induce
** Mr. Murray to j/rint the Presidents Speeches.^

I remarked at the time that such an answer
was quite unsatisfactory, as the following state-
ment will prove.

The volume consists of 160 pages, or twenty
sheets, and the following prices are very liberal :

£ s. d.
To composing and printing twenty sheets, at

3L per sheet 60

Twenty reams of paper, at 31. per ream ... 6000

Corrections, alterations, &c SO

Total cost of 500 copies .... 150

Now upon the subject of the expense of
printing, the Council could not plead ignorance.
The Society are engaged in printing, and in
paying printers' bills, too frequently to admit of
such an excuse ; and several of the individual
members must have known, from their own

FUNDS OF THE SOCIETY.

107

private experience, that the cost of printing such
a volume was widely different from that they
were about to pay, as an inducement to a book-
seller to print it on hi^ own account. Here,
then, was a sum of above two hundred pounds
beyond what was necessary for the object, taken
from the funds of the Royal Society; and for

what purpose? Did the President and his
ofiScers ever condescend to explain this transac-
tion to the Council; or were they expected, as
a matter of course, to sanction any thing pro-
posed to them ? Could they have been so weak,
or so obedient, as to order the payment of above
three hundred and eighty pounds, to induce a
bookseller to do what they might have done
themselves for less than half the sum? Or did
they wish to make Mr. Murray a present of two
hundred pounds ? If so, he must have had power-
ful friends in the Council, and it is fit the Society
should know who they were; for they were not
friends, either to its interests or to its honour.

The copies, so purchased, were ordered by the
Council to be sold to members of the Society
at 15^. each : (the trade price is 15^. 3d.) and
out of the five hundred copies twenty-seven
only have been sold : the remainder encumber
our shelves. Thus, after four years, the Society

)

< «

)

lOS FUNDS OF THE SOCIETY.

are still losers of three hundred and sixty pounds
on this transaction.

On the conversion of the Greenwich Observa-
tions into Pastehoard. — Although the printing of
these observations is not paid for out of the funds
of the Royal Society, yet as the Council of that
body are the visitors of the Royal Observatory, it
may not be misplaced to introduce the subject
here.

Some years since, a member of, the Royal
Society accidentally learned, that there was, at
an old store-shop in Thames Street, a large
quantity of the volumes of the Greenwich Ob-
servations on sale as waste paper. On making
inquiry, he ascertained that there were two tons
and a. half to be disposed of, and that an equal
quantity had already been sold, for the purpose
of converting it into pasteboard. The vender
said he could get fourpence a pound for the
whole,' and that it made capital Bristol board.
The fact was mentioned by a member of the
Council of the Royal Society, and they thought
it necessary to inquire into the circumstances.

Now, the Observations made at the Royal
Observatory are '.printed with every regard to
typographical luxury, with large margins, on

FUNDS OF THE SOCIETY.

109

thick paper, hotpressed, and with no sort of
regard to economy. This magnificence is ad-
vocated hy some who maintain, that the volumes
ought to be worthy of a great nation ; whilst
others, seeing how little that nation spends on
science, regret that the sums allotted to it should
not be applied with the strictest economy. If
the Astronomer Royal really has a right to these
volumes, printed by the government at a large
expense, it is, perhaps, the most extravagant
mode which was ever yet invented of paying a
public servant. When that right was given to
him, — let us suppose somebody had suggested
the impolicy of it, lest he should sell the costly
volumes for waste paper, — who would have lis-
tened for one moment to such a supposition?
He would have been told that it was impossible
to suppose a person in that high and responsible
situation, could be so indifferent to his own re-
putation.

A short time since, I applied to the President
and Council of the Royal Society, for copies
of the Greenwich Observations, which were
necessary for an inquiry on which I was at that
time engaged. Being naturally anxious to econo-
mize the small funds I can devote to science,
the request appeared to me a reasonable one. It

no FUNDS OF THK SOCIETY.

was, however, refused ; and I was at the same
time informed that the Observations could be
purchased at the bookseller's.* When I consider
that practical astronomy has not occupied a very
prominent place, in my pursuits, I feel disposed,
on that ground, to acquiesce in the propriety of
the refusal. This excuse can, however, be of no
avail for similar refusals to other gentlemen, who
applied nearly at the same time with myself, and
whose time had been successfully devoted to the
cultivation of that science.^

There was, however, another ground on which
I had weakly anticipated a different result ; — but
those who occupy official situations, rendered
remarkable by the illustrious names of their
predecessors, are placed in no enviable station;

* This was a mistake ; Mr. Murray has not copies of the
Greenwich Observations prior to 1823.

f M. Bessel, at the wish of the Royal Academy of Berlin,
projected a plan for making a very extensive map of the
heavens. Too vast for any individual to attempt, it was
proposed that a portion should be executed by the astro-
nomers of various countries, and invitations to this effect
were widely circulated. One only of the divisions of this
map was applied for by any English astronomer ; and, after
completing the portion of the map assigned to him, he under-
took another, which had remained unprovided for. This
gentleman, the Rev. Mr. Hussey, was one of the rejected
applicants for the Greenwich Observations.

FUNDS OF THE SOCIETY. Ill

and, if their own acquirements are confessedly
insufficient to keep up the high authority of their
office, they must submit to the mortifications
of their false position. I am sure, therefore, that
the President and officers of the Royal Society
must have sympathized most deeply with me,
when they felt it their duty to propose that the
Society over which Newton once presided, should
refuse so trifling an assbtance to the unworthy
possessor of the chair he once filled.

In reply to my application to the President
and Council, to be allowed a copy of the Green-
wich Observations, I was informed that, "The

number of copies placed by government at the

disposal of the Royal Society, was insufficient
** to supply the demands made on them by
'' various learned bodies in Europe ; and, con-
" sequently, they were unable, however great
'' their inclination, to satisfy the wishes of indi-
*' vidual applicants.** Now I have spent some
time in searching the numerous proceedings in the
council-books of the Royal Society, and I believe
the following is the real state of the case : —

In 1785, Lord Sidney, one of His Majesty's
principal Secretaries of State, wrote to the
Council a letter, dated Whitehall, March 8,
1785, from which the following is extracted : —

112 FUNDS OF THE SOCIETY.

€€
€i
€€
€€

The King has been pleased to consent, that
any copies of the Astronomical Observations,
made at the Observatory of Greenwich, (and
paid for by the Board of Ordnance, pursuant
to His Majesty's command, of July 21, 1767,)
which may at any time remain in the hands
*' of the printer, shall, after you have reserved
" such copies as you may think proper as pre-
*' sents, be given to the said Nevil Maskelyne,
" in consideration of his trouble in the super-
*' intending the printing thereof. I am to sig-
nify His Majesty's pleasure, that yoti do, from
time to time, give the necessary orders for
that purpose, until His Majesty's further com-
" mands shall be communicated to you."

Soon after this letter, I find on the council-
books : —

' '* Ordered, That sixty copies of the Green-

*' wich Observations, last published, be retained
as presents, and that the rest be delivered to
the Astronomer Royal."
It is difficult to be sure of a negative fact,
but in searching many volumes of the Proceed-
ings of the Council, I have not discovered any
revocation of this order, and I believe none
exists. This is confirmed by the circumstance
of the Council at the present day receiving

t€
it

€t

"- n

I'UNDS or THE SOCIETY. 113

precisely the same number of copies as their
predecessors, and I believe that in fact they do
not know the authority on which the right to
those sixty rests.

Supposing this order unrevoked, it was clearly
meant to be left to the discretion of the Council,
to order such a number to be reserved, "from
time to time,*" as the demands of science might
require. When, therefore, they found that the
number of sixty copies was insufficient, they
ought to have directed the printer to send them
a larger number ; but w^hen they found out the
purpose to which the Astronomer Royal applied
them, they ought immediately to have ordered
nearly the whole impression, in order to prevent
this destruction of public property. If, on the
other hand, the above order is revoked, and we
really have no right to more than sixty copies ;
then, on discovering the Observations in their
progress towards pasteboard, it was the duty
of the Council of the Royal Society, as visitors
of the Royal Observatory, immediately to have
represented to Government the evil of the ar-
rangement, and to have suggested, that if the
Astronomer Royal have the right, it would be
expedient to commute it for a liberal compen
sation.

114 FUNDS OF THE SOCIETY.

Whichever be the true view of the case, they
have taken no steps on the subject ; and I cannot
help expressing my belief, that the President
and Council were induced to be thus negligent
of the interests of science, from the fear of
interfering with the perquisites of the Astro-
nomer Royal.

It is, however, but justice to observe, that the
injury already done to science, by the conversion
of these Observations into pasteboard, is not so
great as the public might have feared. Mr.
Pond, than whom no one can be supposed
better acquainted with their value, and whose
right to judge no man can question, has shown
his own opinion to be, that his reputation will
be best consulted by diminishing the extent of
their circulation.

Before I quit the subject of the Royal Obser-
vatory, on which much might be said, I will just
refer to the report by a Committee of the Royal
Society that was made relative to it, some years
since, and which, it is imagined, is a subject by
no means grateful to the memory of any of
the parties concerned in it. My object is to
ascertain, whether any amendments have taken
place in consequence. To one fact of consider-
able importance, I was myself a witness, when

THE ROYAL :\rEDALS. 115

I was present officially at a visitation. At that
time, no original observations raade at the transit
instrument were ever preserved. Had I not
been an eye witness of the process of an obser-
vation, I should not have credited the fact.

Section 7.

Of the Royal Medals.

At a period when the attention of Government
to science had not undergone any marked change,
a most unexpected occurrence took place. His
Majesty intimated to the Royal Society, through
his Secretary of State, his intention to found two
gold medals, of the value of fifty guineas each,
to be awarded annually by the Council of the
Royal Society, according to the rules they were
desired to frame for that purpose.

The following is the copy of Mr. Peel's
letter : —

Whitehall, December Sd, IS25.
Sir,

I AM commanded by the King to acquaint you, that

His Majesty proposes to found two gold medals, of the

value of fifty guineas each, to be awarded as honorary

premiums, under the direction of the President and

I 2

L_-

116 THE ROYAL MEDALS.

Council of the Royal Society, in such a manner as shall,
by the excitement of competition among men of science,
seem best calculated to promote the object for which the
Royal Society was instituted.

His Majesty desires to receive from the President
and Council of the Royal Society their opinion upon
the subject generally of the regulations which it may be
convenient to establish with regard to the appropriation
of the medals ; and I have, therefore, to request that
you will make the necessary communication to the
Council of the Royal Society, in order that His Majesty's
wishes mav be carried into effect

I have the honour to be,
&c. &c.
(Signed) R. PEEL.

Nothing could be more important for the
interests of science, than this gracious manifes-
tation of His Majesty's concern for its advance-
ment. It was hailed by all who were made
acquainted with it, as the commencement of a
new era, and the energies which it might have
awakened were immense. The unfettered nature
of the gift excited admiration, whilst the con-
fidence reposed in the Council was calculated to
have insured the wavering faith of any less-gifted
body. Even those who, either from knowing the
management of the Society, or from other grounds,
doubted the policy of establishing medals, saw

THE ROVAL MEDALS. 117

much to admire in the tone and spirit in which
they were offered.

The Council immediately came to the resolu-
tion of gratefiilly accepting them : and it ap-
pears that the President communicated that
resolution, on the 26th, to Mr. Peel, in a letter,
which is found on the minutes of the Council-
book of the 26th of January.

At the same Council, the rules for the award
of the Royal medals were decided upon; they
were as follow : —

26th January^ 1 826.

Resolved,

That it is the opinion of the Council, that the medals
be awarded for the most important discoveries or series
of investigations, completed and made known to the
Royal Society in the year preceding the day of their
award.

That it is the opinion of the Coimcil, that the pre-
sentation of the medals should not be limited to British
subjects. And they propose, if it should be His Majesty's
pleasure, that his effigy should form the obverse of the
medaL

That two medals from the same die should be struck
upon each foundation ; one in gold, one in silver.

If these rules are not the wisest which might
have been formed, yet they are tolerably explicit ;
and it might have been imagined that even a

lis THE ROYAL MEDALS.

councillor of the lloyal Society, prepared for office
by the education of a pleader, could not have
mystified his brethren so completely, as to have
made them doubt on the point of time. The
rules fixed precisely, that the discoveries or expe-
riments re\varded, must be completed and made
known to the Royal Society, within the year
preceding the day of the award.

Perhaps it might have been a proper mark of
respect to this communication, to have convened
a special general meeting of the Society, to have
made known to the whole body the munificent
endowment of their Patron : and when his
approbation of the laws which were to govern
the distribution of these medals had been inti-
mated to the Council, such a course would have
been in complete accordance with the wish ex-
pressed in Mr. Peel's letter, " to excite competi-^
Hon amongst men of science,** by making them
generally known.

Let us now examine the first award of these
medals : it is recorded in the following words : —

November 16, 1826.
One of the medals of His Majesty's donation for the
present year was awarded to John Dahon, Esq. Pre-
sident of the Philosophical and Literary Society, Man-
chester, for his development of the Atomic Theory, and

THE ROYAL MEDALS. 119

his Other important labours and discoveries in physical
science.

The otlier medal for the present year was awai-ded to
James Ivory, Esq. for his paper on Astronomical Re-
fractions, published in the Philosophical Transactions
for the year 1823, and his other valuable papers on
mathematical subjects.

The Copley medal was awarded to James South, Esq.
for his obser\'ations of double stars, and his paper on
the discordances between the sim*s observed and com-
puted right ascensions, published in the Transactions.

It is difficult to believe that the same Council,
which, in January, formed the laws for the dis-
tribution of these medals, should meet together
in November, and in direct violation of these
laws, award them to two philosophers, one of
whom had made, and fully established, his great
discovery almost twenty years before; and the
other of whom (to stultify themselves still more
effectually) they expressly rewarded for a paper
made known to them three years before.

Were the rules for the award of these medals
read previous to their decision? Or were the
obedient Council only used to register the edict
of their President? Or were they mocked, as
they have been in other instances, with the sem-
blance of a free discussion ?

Has it never occurred to gentlemen who have

I I-

120 THE ROYAL MEDALS.

been thus situated, that although they have in

truth had no part in the decision, yet the Society

and the public will justly attribute a portion of

the merit or demerit of their award, to those to j

whom that trust was confided ?

Did no one member of the Council venture,
with the most submissive deference, to suggest
to the President, that the public eye would
watch with interest this first decision on the
Royal medals, and that it might perhaps be more
discreet to adjudge them, for the fix's t time, in
accordance with the laws which had been made
for their distribution ? Or was public opinion
then held in supreme contempt ? Was it i

scouted, as I have myself heard it scouted, in
the councils of the Royal Society ?

Or was the President exempt, on this occasion,
from the responsibility of dictating an award in
direct violation of the faith which had been
pledged to the Society and to the public ? and,
did the Council, intent on exercising a power
so rarely committed to them ; and, perhaps,
urged by the near approach of their hour of
dinner, dispense with the formality of reading
the laws on which they were about to act ?

Whatever may have been the cause, the result
was most calp^tous to the Society. Its decision

THE KOYAL MEDALS. 121

was attacked on other grounds ; for, with a
strange neglect^ the Council had taken no pains
to make known, either to the Society, or to the
public, the rules they had made for the adjudi-
cation of these medals.

The evils resulting from this decision were
many. In the first place, it was most indecorous
and ungrateful to treat with such neglect the
rules which had been approved by our Royal
Patron. In the next place, the medals them-
selves became almost worthless from this original
taint : and they ceased to excite *' competition
amongst men of science," because no man could
feel the least security that he should get them, ;f

even though his discoveries should fulfil all the
conditions on which they were offered.

The great injury which accrued to science
from this proceeding, induced me, in the suc-
ceeding session, when I found myself on the
Council of the Royal Society, to endeavour to
remove the stigma which rested on our character.
Whether I took the best means to remedy the
evil is now a matter of comparatively little con-
sequence : had I found any serious disposition
to set it right, I should readily have aided
in any plans for doing that which I felt myself
bound to attempt, evtsu though I should stand

I •

122 THE ROYAL MEDALS.

alone^ as I had the misfortune of doing on
that occasion.*

The impression which the whole of that dis-
cussion made on my mind will never be effaced.
Regarding the original rules formed for the
distribution of the Royal medals^ when approved
by his Majesty^ as equally binding in honour
and in justice, I viewed the decbion of the Coun-
cil, which assigned those medals to Mr. Dalton
and Mr. Ivory, as void, ipso facto, on the ground
that it was directly at variance with' that part
which conjines the medals to discoveries made
known to the Society within one year previous
to tJie day of their award. I therefore moved
the following resolutions :

''1st, That the award of the Royal medals,
made on the 16th of November, 1826, being
contrary to the conditions under which they were
offered, is invalid.

" 2dly, That the sum of fifty guineas each be
presented to J. Dalton, Esq. and James Ivory,
Esq. from the funds of the Society; and that

* It is but justice to Mr. South, who was a member of that
Council, to state, that the circumstance of his having had the
Copley medal of the same year awarded to him, prevented
him from taking any part in the discussion.

THE ROYAL MEDALS.

123

letters be written to each of those gentlemen,
expressing the hope of the Council that this,
the only method which is open to them of ho-
nourably fulfiUhig their pledges, will be received
by those gentlemen as a mark of the high sense
entertained by the Council of the importance and
value of their discoveries, which require not the
aid of medals to convey their reputation to pos-
terity, as amongst the greatest which distinguished
the age in which they lived.**

It may be curious to give the public a speci-
men of the reasoning employed in so select a
body of philosophers as the Council of the Royal
Society. It was contended, on the one hand,
that although the award was somewhat irre-
gular, yet nothing was more easy than to set
it right. As the original rules for giving the
medals were merely an order of the Council, —
it would only be necessary to alter them, and then
the award would agree perfectly with the laws.
On the other hand, it was contended, that the
original rules were unknoum to the public and
to the Society ; and that, in fact, they were only
known to the members of the Council and a few
of their friends ; and therefore the award was no
breach of faith.

124 THE ROYAL MEDALS.

All comment on such reasoning is needless.
That such propositions could not merely be
offered, but could pass unreproved, is sufficient
to show that the feelings of that body do not
harmonize with those of the age ; and furnishes
some explanation why several of the most active
members of the Royal Society have declined
connecting their names with the Council as long
as the present system of management is pursued.

The little interest taken by the body of the
Society, either in its peculiar pursuits, or in the
proceedings of the Council, and the little com-
munication which exists between them, is an evil.
Thus it happens that the deeds of the Council
are rarely known to the body of the Society,
and, indeed, scarcely extend beyond that small
portion who frequent the weekly meetings. These
pages will perhaps afford the first notice to the
great majority of the Society of a breach of faith
by their Council, which it is impossible to sup-
pose a body, consisting of more than six hun-
dred gentlemen, could have sanctioned.

ti^

THE COPLEY ^FEDALS. 125

Section 8.

Of the Copley Medals.

An important distinction exists between scien-
tific communications^ which seems to have escaped
the notice of the Councils of the Royal Society. j

They may contain discoveries of new principles^ — J

of laws of nature hitherto unobserved ; or they |

•I

may consist of a register of observations of known \

phenomena^ made under new circumstances, or in J

. I,

new and peculiar situations on the face of our ji

planet. Both these species of additions to our
knowledge are important ; but their value and
their rarity are very different in degree. To
make and to repeat observations, even with those
trifling alterations^ which it is the fashion in our
country (iu the present day) to dignify with the
name of discoveries, requires merely inflexible
.candour in recording precisely the facts which
nature has presented, and a power of fixing the };

attention on the instruments employed, or phe-
nomena examined, — a talent, which can be much
improved by proper instruction, and which is
possessed by most persons of tolerable abilities

I
1

126 THE COPLEY MEDALS.

and education. • To discover new principles,
and to detect the undiscovered laws by which
nature operates, is another and a higher task,
and requires intellectual qualifications of a very
different order : the labour of the one is like that
of the computer of an almanac; the inquiries
of the other resemble more the researches of
the accomplished analyst, who has invented the
formulas by which those computations are per-
formed.

Such being the distinction betweeii the merits
of these inquiries, some difference ought to exist
in the nature of any rewards that may be pro-

^ That the use even of the large astronomical instruments
in a national obserTatory, does not require any very pro-
found .acquirements, is not an opinion which I should have
put forth without authority. The Astronomer-Royal ought
to be the best judge.

On the minutes of the Council of the Royal Society, for
April 6, 1826, with reference to the Assistants necessary for
the two mural circles, we find a letter from Mr. Pond on the
subject, from which the following passage is extracted :

** But to carry on such investigations, I want indefatigable,
hard-working, and above all, obedient drudges (for so I
must call them, although they are drudges of a superior
order), men who will be contented to pass half their day
in using their hands and eyes in the mechanical act of ob-
serving, and the remainder of it in the dull process of cal-
culation."

)

THE COPLEY MEDALS. 127

posed for their encouragement. The Royal

Society have never marked this difference, and

consequently those honorary medals which are

given to observations, gain a value which is due /

to those that are given for discoveries ; whilst \

these latter are diminished in their estimation

by such an association.

I have stated this distinction, because I think
it a just one ; but the public would have little
cause of complaint if this were the only ground
of objection to the mode of appropriating the
Society's medals. The first objection to be no-
ticed, is the indistinct manner in which the
object for which the medals are awarded is some-
times specified. A medal is given to A. 6.
'* for his various papers."

There are cases, few perhaps in number, where
such a reason may be admissible ; but it is im-
possible not to perceive the weakness of those
who judge these matters legibly written in the
phrase, ** and for his various other communica-
tions, ^ which comes in as the frequent tail-piece
to these awards. With a diffidence in their own
powers, which might be more admired if it were \

more frequently expressed, the Council think to
escape through this loop-hole, should the pro- j

priety of their judgment on the main point be [

128 THE COPLEY MEDALS.

called in question. Thus, even the discovery
v^hich made chemistry a science, has attached
to it in their award this feeble appendage.

It has been objected to the Royal Society, that
their medals have been too much confined to a
certain set. When the Royal medals were added
to their patronage, the past distribution of the
Copley medals, furnished grounds to some of the
journals to predict the future possessors of the
new ones. I shall, doubtless, be told that the
Council of the Royal Society are persons of such
high feeling, that it is impossible to supppse their
decision could be influenced by any personal
motives. As I may not have had sufficient op-
portunities, during the short time I was a member
of that Council, to enable me to form a fair esti-
mate, I shall avail myself of the judgment of
one, from whom no one will be inclined to
appeal, who knew it long and intimately, and
who expressed his opinion deliberately and so-
lemnly.

The late Dr. WoUaston attached, as a con-
dition to be observed in the distribution of the
interest of his munificent gift of 2,000/. to the
Royal Society, the following clause : — " And I
hereby empower the said President, Council, and
Fellows, after my decease, in furtherance of the

THE COPLEY MEDALS. 129

above declared objects of the trust, to apply the
said dividends to aid or reward any individual or
individuals of any country, saving only tlmt no
person being a Member of the Council for the
time being, shall receive or partake of such re-
ward. **

Another improvement which might be sug-
gested, is, that it is generally inexpedient to vote a
medal until the paper which contains the discovery
is at least read to the Society ; perhaps even it
might not be quite unreasonable to wish that it
should have been printed, and consequently have
been perused by some few of those who have to
decide on its merits. These trifles have not always
been attended to ; and even so lately as the last
year, they escaped the notice of the President and
his Council. The Society was, however, indebted
to the good sense of Mr. Faraday, who declined
the proffered medal ; and thus relieved us from
one additional charge of precipitancy. *

Perhaps, also, as the Council are on some
occasions apt to be oblivious, it might be con-

* When this hasty adjudication was thus put a stop to,
one of the members of the Council inquired, whether, as a
Copley medal must by the will be annually given, some
other person might not be found deserving of it. To which
the Secretary replied, " We do not intend to give any this
year." All further discussion was thus silenced.

130 THE COPLEY MEDALS.

venient that the President should read, previ-
ously to the award of any medals or to the
decision of any other important subjects, the
statutes relating to them. He might perhaps
propitiate their attention to them, by stating,
how mtich it importeth to the consistency of the
Council to be acquainted with the laws on which
they are about to decide.

If those who have been conversant with the
internal management of the Council, would com-
municate their information, something ' curious
might perhaps be learned respecting a few of these
medals. Concerning those of which I have had
good means of information, I shall merely state —
of three of them — that whatever may have been
the official reasons for their award, I had ample
reasons to convince me of the following being
the true causes : —

First. — A medal was given to A, at a pecu-
liarly inappropriate time — because lie Imd not had
one before.

Second. — Subsequently a medal was given to
B, in order to destroy the impressioii which the
award of the niedal to A had viade on tlie public
the preceding year.

Third. — A medal was given to C, ** because
tve think he has been ill used.''

THE COPLEY MEDALS. 131

I will now enter on an examination of one
of their awards^ which was peculiarly injudicious.
I allude to that concerning the mode of rendering
platina malleable. Respecting^ as I did, the
illustrious philosopher who invented the art, and
who has left many other claims to the gratitude
of mankind, I esteem it no disrespect to his
memory to place that subject in its proper
light.

An invention in science or in art, may justly
be considered as possessing the rights of property
in the highest degree. The lands we inherit
from our fathers, were cultivated ere they were
bom, and jdelded produce before they were cul-
tivated. The products of genius are the actual
creations of the individual; and, after yielding
profit or honour to him, they remain the per-
manent endowments of the human race. If the
institutions of our country, and the opinions of
society, support us fully in the absolute disposal
of our fields, of which we can, by the laws of
nature, be only the transitory possessors, who
shall justly restrict our discretion in the disposal
of those richer possessions, the products of intel-
lectual exertion?

Two courses are open to those individuals who
are thus endowed with Nature's wealth. They

132 THE COPLEY MEDALS.

may lock up in their own bosoms the mysteries
they have penetrated, and by applying their
knowledge to the production of some substance
in demand in commerce, thus minister to the
wants or comforts of their species, whilst they
reap in pecuniary profit the legitimate reward
of their exertions.

It is open to them, on the other hand, to dis-
close the secret they have torn from Nature, and
by allowing mankind to participate with them, to
claim at once that splendid reputation which is
rarely refused to the inventors of valuable dis-
coveries in the arts of life.

The two courses are Varely compatible, only
indeed when the discoverer, having published his
process, enters into equal competition with other
manufacturers. .

If an individual adopt the first of these courses, {

and retaining his secret, it perish with him, the
world have no right to complain. During his life,
they profited by his knowledge, and are better
ofi* than if the philosopher had not existed.

Monopolies, under the name of patents, have
been devised to assist and reward those who have
chosen the line of pecuniary profit. Honorary
rewards and medals have been the feeble expres-
sions of the sentiments of mankind towards those

THE COPLEY MEDALS.

133

who have preferred the other course. But these
have been,* and should always be, kept com-
pletely distinct.

Let us now consider the case of platina. A
new process was discovered of rendering it mal-
leable, and the mere circumstance of so large
a quantity having been sent into the market,
was a positive benefit, of no ordinary magnitude,
to many of the arts. The discoverer of this
valuable process selected that course for which
no reasonable man could blame him ; and from
some circumstance, or perhaps from accident, he
preserved no written record of the manipulations.
Had Providence appointed for that disorder,
which terminated too fatally, a more rapid
career, all the knowledge he had acquired from
the long attention he had devoted to the subject,
would have been lost to mankind. The hand
of a friend recorded the directions of the expiring
philosopher, whose anxiety to render useful
even his unfinished speculations, proves that the
previous omission was most probably accidental.

Under such circumstances it was published
to the world in the Transactions of the Royal

* It is a condition with the Society of Arts, never to give
a reward to any thing for which a patent has been, or is to

i-_

L-.1 ^..i

134 THE COPLEY MEDALS.

Society. But what could induce that body to
bestow on it their medal ? To talk of adding
lustre to the name of WoUaston by their medal^
is to talk idly. They must have done it then as
an example^ as a stimulus to urge future inqui-
ries in the career of discovery. But did they
wish discoveries to be so endangered ?

The discoveries of Professor Mitscherlick, of
Berlin^ had long been considered^ by a few
members of the Society^ as having strong claims
on one of its houorary rewards ; but difficulties
had arisen^ from so few members of the Council
having any knowledge of discoveries which had
long been familiar to Europe. The Council were
just on the point of doing justice to the merits of
the Prussian philosopher, when it was suggested
that its medal should be given to Dr. Wollaston^
and they immediately altered their intention,
and thus enabled themselves to reserve their
medal to Professor Mitscherlick for another
year ; at which period , for aught they knew, his
discoveries might possess the additional merit of
having been made prior to the limit allowed by
their regulations. That medal was, in fact,
voted at a meeting, at which no one member
present was at all conversant with the subjects

THE COPLEY MEDALS. 135

rewarded. I shall^ however, say no more on this
subject. They erred from feeling, an error so
very rare with them, that it might be pardoned
even for its singularity.

I will, however, add one word to those whose
censures have been unjustly dealt, to those who
have reproached the philosopher for receiving
pecuniary advantage from his inventions.

Amongst the many and varied contrivances
for the demands of science, or the arts of life,
with which we were enriched by the genius of
WoUaston, was it too much to allow him to
retain, during his fleeting career, one out of the
multitude, to furnish that pecuniary supply,
without which, the man will want food for his
body, and the philosopher be destitute of tools
for his inventions ? Had he been, as, from the
rank he held in science, he certainly would have
been in other kingdoms, rich in the honours his
country could bestow, and receiving from her a
reward in some measure commensurate with his
deserts, — then, indeed, there might have been
reason for that reproach ; but I am convinced
that, in such circumstances, the philosopher would
have balanced, with . no '* niggard ** hand, the
claims of his country, and would have given to it,
unreservedly, the produce of his powerful mind.

•

136 Tlir FAIRCHILD LECTURE.

Section 9.
Of the Fairchild Lecture.

Mr. Fairchild left by will twenty-five pounds
to the Royal Society. This was increased by
several subscriptions, and 100/. 3 per cent. South
Sea Annuities was purchased, the interest of
which was to be devoted annually £o pay for a
sermon to be preached at St. Leonard's, Shore-
ditch.

Few members of the Society, perhaps, are
aware, either of the bequest or of its annual
payment. I shall merely observe, that for five
years, from 1800 to 1804, it was regularly given
to Mr. Ascough ; and that for twenty-six years
past, it has been as regularly given to the Rev-
Mr. Ellis.

The annual amount is too trifling to stimulate
to any extraordinary exertions; yet, small as it is,
it might, if properly applied, be productive of
much advantage to religion, and of great honour
to the Society. For this purpose, it would be
desirable that it should be delivered at some

THE FAIRCHILD LECTURE.

137

church or chapel, more likely to be attended by
members of the Royal Society. Notice of it should
be given at the place of worship appointed, at
least a week previous to its delivery, and at the two
preceding weekly meetings of the Royal Society.
The name of the gentleman nominated for that
year^ and the church at which the sermon is to
be preached, should be stated.

With this publicity attending it, and by a
judicious selection of the first two or three gen-
tlemen appointed to deliver it, it would soon be
esteemed an honour to be invited to compose such
a lecture, and the Society might always find in its
numerous list of members or aspirants, persons weU
qualified to fulfil a task as beneficial for the pro-
motion of true religion, as it ever must be for the
interest of science. I am tempted to believe that
such a course would call forth exertions of the
most valuable character, as well as give addi-
tional circulation to what is already done on that
subject.

The geological speculations which have been
adduced, perhaps with too much haste by some,
as according with the Mosaic history, and by
others, as inconsistent with its truth, would, if
this subject had been attentively considered, have
been allowed to remain until the fullest and

13S THE CKOONIAX LECTURE.

freest inquiry had irrevocably fixed their claim to
the character of indisputable facts. But, I will
not press this subject further on my reader's atten-
tion, lest he should think I am myself delivering
the lecture. All that I could have said on this
point has been so much more ably stated by one
whose enlightened view of geological science has
taken away some difficulties from its cultivators,
and, I hope, removed a stumbling-block from
many respectable individuals, that I should only
weaken by adding to the argument. *

Section 10.

Of the Croonian Lecture.

The payment •]• for this Lecture, like that of
the preceding, is small. It was instituted by
Dr. Croone, for an annual essay on the subject
of Muscular Motion. It is a little to be re-
gretted, that it should have been so restricted ;
and perhaps its founder, had he foreseen the

* I allude to the critique of Dr. Ure's Geology in the
British Review, for July, 1829 ; an Essay, equally worthy
of a philosopher and a Christian.

•)• Three pounds.

Section 11.

Of the Causes of the present State of the Royal

Society.

THE CROONIAN LECTURE. 139

routine into which it has dwindled, might have
endeavoured to preserve it, by affording it a
wider range.

By giving it to a variety of individuals, com-
petition might have been created, and many
yoi^ng anatomists have been induced to direct
their attention to the favourite inquiry of the
founder of the Lecture ; but from causes which
need not here be traced, this has not been the
custom — one individual has monopolized it year
after year, and it seems, like the Fairchild Lecture,
rather to have been regarded as a pension. There
have, however, been some intervals ; and we are 1

still under obligations to those who have sup- j|

ported tJie system, for not appointing Sir Eve- ''

rard Home to read the Croonian Lecture twenty
years in succession. Had it been otherwise, we
might have heard of vested rights.

The best friends of the Royal Society have
long admitted, whilst they regretted, its declining ^

140 CAUSES OF THE PRESENT STATE

fame; and even those who support whatever
exists^ begin a little to doubt whether it might
not possibly be amended.

The great and leading cause of the present J

state to which the Royal Society is reduced^ may [

be traced to years of misrule to which it has
been submitted. In order to understand this^ it
will be necessary to explain the nature of that
misrule, and the means employed in perpe-
tuating it.

It is known, that by the statutes, - the body
of the Society have the power of electing, an-
nually, their President, Officers, and Council ; and
it is also well known, that this is a merely nominal
power, and that printed lists are prepared and |

put into the hands of the members on their
entering the room, and thus passed into the
balloting box. If these lists were, as in other
scientific societies, openly discussed in the Coun-
cil, and then offered by them as recommendations
to the Society, little inconvenience would arise ;
but the fact is, that they are private nomi-
nations by the President, usually without notice,
to the Council, and all the supporters of the sys-
tem which I am criticizing, endeavour to uphold
the right of this nomination in the President, and
prevent or discourage any alteration.

OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY. 141

The Society has, for years, been managed by
a party, or coterie, or by whatever other name
may be most fit to designate a combination of
persons, united by no expressed compact or
written regulations, but who act together from
a community of principles. That each indivi-
dual has invariably supported all the measures
of the party, is by no means the case; and
whilst instances of opposition amongst them
have been very rare, a silent resignation to cir-
cumstances has been the most usual mode of
meeting measures they disapproved. The great
object of this, as of all other parties, has been to
maintain itself in power, and to divide, as far as
it could, all the good things amongst its mem-
bers. It has usually consisted of persons of very
moderate talent, who have had the prudence,
whenever they could, to associate with them-
selves other members of greater ability, provided
these latter would not oppose the system, and
would thus lend to it the sanction of their name.
The party have always praised each other most
highly — have invariably opposed all improve-
ments in the Society, all change in the mode
of management; and have maintained, that all
those who wished for any alteration were fac-
tious ; and, when they discovered any symptoms

142 CAUSES OF THE PRESENT STATE

of independence and inquiry breaking out in
any member of the Council, they have displaced
him as soon as they decently could.

Of the arguments employed by those who
support the system of management by which
the Royal Society is governed, I shall give a
few samples : refutation is rendered quite unne-
cessary — juxta-position is alone requisite. If any
member, seeing an improper appointment in
contemplation, or any abuse in the management
of the affairs of the Society continued, raise a ».

voice against it, the ready anwer is. Why should
you interfere ? it may not be quite the thing
you approve ; but it is no affair of yours. — If,
on the other hand, it do relate to himself, the
reply is equally ready. It is immediately
urged : The question is of a personal nature ;
you are the last person who ought to bring it
forward ; you are yourself interested. If any
member of the Society, feeling annoyed at the
neglect, or hurt by the injuries or insults of the
Council, show signs of remonstrance, it is imme-
diately suggested to him that he is irritated, and
ought to wait until his feelings subside, and he
can judge more coolly on the subject; whilst
with becoming candour they admit the ill-treat-
ment, but urge forbearance. If, after an interval.

OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY,

143

when reflection has had ample time to operate^
the offence seems great as at first, or the insult
appears unmitigated by any circumstances on
which memory can dwell, — if it is then brought
forward, the immediate answer is. The affair is
out of date — the thing is gone by — it is too late
to call in question a transaction so long past.
Thus, if a man is interested personally, he is
unfit to question an abuse ; if he is not, is it pro-
bable that he will question it ? and if, notwith-
standing this, he do so, then he is to be accounted
a meddler. If he is insulted, and complain, he is
told to wait until he is cool; and when that
period arrives, he is then told he is too late. If
his remonstrance relates to the alteration of laws
which are never referred to, or only known by their
repeated breach, he is told that any alteration is
useless ; it is perfectly well known that they are
never adhered to. If it relate to the impolicy of
any regulations attaching to an office, he is imme-
diately answered, that that is a personal question,
in which it is impossible to interfere — the officer,
it seems, is considered to have not merely a
vested right to the continuance of every abuse,
but an interest in transmitting it unimpaired to
his successors.

In the same spirit I have heard errors of

(

144 CAUSES OF THE PRESENT STATE

calculation or observation defended. If small

errors occur, it is said that they are too trifling /

to be of any importance. If larger errors are

pointed out, it is immediately contended that they * J

can deceive nobody, because of their magnitude. j .

Perhaps it might be of some use, if the Council

would oblige the world with their scale of error, f

with illustrations from some of the most recent i

and approved works, and would favour the unin- t

formed with the orthodox creed upon all grades,

from that which baffles the human faculties to

detect, up to that which becomes innocuous from

its size.

The offices connected with the Royal Society
are few in number, and their emolument small in
amount; but the proper disposition of them is,
nevertheless, of great importance to the Society,
and was so to the science of England.

In the first place, the President, having in
effect the absolute nomination of the whole Coun-
cil, could each year introduce a few gentlemen,
whose only qualification to sit on it would be the
high opinion they must necessarily entertain of
the penetration of him who could discover their
scientific merits. He might 'also place in the
list a few nobles or officials, just to gild it.
Neither of these classes would put any trouble-

OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY.

145

some questions^ and one of them might be em-
ployed, from its station in society, to check any
that might be proposed by others.

With these ingredients, added to the regular
train of the party, and a star or two of science to
shed lustre over the whole, a very manageable
Council might be formed ; and such has been its
frequent composition.

The duties of the Secretaries, when well exe-
cuted, are laborious, although not in this respect
equal to those of the same officers who, in several
societies, give their gratuitous aid; and their
labours are much lightened by the Assistant
Secretary and his clerk. The following are their
salaries : —

The Senior Secretary 105L

The Junior Secretary, 105/ • ) iin/

51, for making Index to Phil. Trans, • \
The Foreign Secretary 20/.

Now it is not customary to change these
annually ; and as these offices are amongst the
"loaves and fishes," they are generally given by
the President to some staunch supporters of the
system. They have frequently been bestowed,
with very little consideration for the interest, 6r
even for the dignity of the Society. To notice

146 CAUSES OF THE PRESENT STATE

only one instance: the late Sir Joseph Banks
appointed a gentleman who remained for years
in that situation^ although he was confessedly
ignorant of every subject connected with the
pursuits of the Society. I will, however, do
justice to his memory, by isaying that his re-
spectability was preserved under such circum-
stances, by the most candid admission of the
fact, accompanied by a store of other know-
ledge unfortunately quite foreign to the pursuits
of the Society ; and I will add, that I regretted
to see him insulted by one President in a situ a- ' <

tion improperly given to him by a former.

Next in order come the Vice-Presidents, who
are appointed by the President ; and in this re-
spect the present practice is not inconvenient.

The case, however, is widely different with the
office of Treasurer. The President ought not to
usurp the power of his appointment, which ought,
after serious discussion by ihe Council, to be
made by the Society at large. I

Besides the three Secretaries, there is an
Assistant Secretary^ and recently another has
been added, who may perhaps be called a Sub-
assistant Secretary. All these places furnish
patronage to the President.

Let us now look at the occasional patronage

.— MKMiMlA^I^

OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY.

147

of the President, arising from offices not belong-
ing to the Society. He is, ex officio, a Trustee
of the British Museum ; and it may seem harsh
to maintain that he is not a fit person to hold
such a situation. It is no theoretical view, but
it is the experience of the past which justifies
the assertion;, and I fear that unless he has
the sole responsibility for some specific appoint-
ments, and unless his judgment is sharpened by
the fear of public discussion, a President of the
Royal Society, in the Board-room of the British
Museum, is quite as likely as another person to
sacrifice his public duty to the influence of power,
or to private friendship. With respect to the me-
rits of that Institution, I have no inclination at
present to inquire : but when it is considered that
there b at this moment attached to it no one
whose observations or whose writings have placed
him even in the second rank amongst the natu-
ralists* of Europe, the President of the Royal
Society has given some grounds for the remark
made by several members of the Society, that
he is a little too much surrounded by the offi-

* It will be remembered that the name of Mr. Robert
Brown has been but recently attached to the British Museum,
and that it is to be attributed to his possessing a life interest
in the valuable collection of the late Sir Joseph Banks.

14S CAUSES OF THE PRESENT STATE

cers of a body who may reasonably be supposed
to entertain towards him feelings either of grati-
tude or expectation.

The late Board of Longitude was another source
of patronage, which, although now abolished,
it may be useful to hint at

Thpre were three members to be appointed by
the Royal Society: these were honorary, and,
as no salary was attached, it might have been
expected that this limited number of appoint-
ments would have been given in all cases to
persons qualified for them. But no : it was
convenient to pay compliments ; and Lord Col-
chester, whose talents and knowledge insured
him respect as Speaker of the House of Com-
mons, or as a British nobleman, was placed for
years in the situation as one of the Commissioners
of the Board of Longitude, for which every com-
petent judge knew him to be wholly unfit.
What was the return which he made for this
indulgence ? Little informed respecting the feel- i

ings of the Society, and probably misinformed \

by the party whose influence had placed him [

there, he saved them in the day of their peril. ;

When the state of the Society had reached ^

such a point that many of the more scientific
members felt that some amendment was abso-

OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY. 149

lutely necessary to its respectability, a com-
mittee* was formed to suggest to the Council
such improvements as they might consider it
expedient to discuss. The Council received their
report at the close of the session ; and in record-
ing it on the journals, they made an appeal to
the Council for the ensuing year to bestow on
it " their earliest and most serious attention^

Now when the . party, to whose government
some of these improvements would have been a
death-warrant, found that the subject was likely
to be taken up in the Council, they were in dis-
may : but the learned and grateful peer came to
their assistance, and aided Mr. Davies Gilbert in
getting rid of these improvements completely.

It has been the fashion to maintain that all
classes of the Royal Society should be repre*
sented in the Council, and consequently that a
peer or two should find a place amongst them-
Those who are most adverse to this doctrine
would perhaps be the most anxious to render
this tribute to any one really employing his
time, his talents, or his rank in advancing the
cause of science. But when a nobleman, un-
versed in our pursuits, will condescend to use

* Amongst the names of the persons composing this
CommitteCi which was proposed by Mr. South, were those
of Dr. Wollaston and Mr. Herscbel.

150 CAUb£S OF THE PRESENT STATE

the influence of his station in aiding a President

to stifle, without discussion, propositions recom- • *

mended for consideration by some of the most

highly gifted members of the Society, — those

who doubt the propriety of the principle may

reasonably be pardoned for the disgust they

must necessarily entertain for the practical abuse

to which it leads.

Of the other three Commissioners, who re-
ceived each a hundred a-year, although the
nomination was, in point of form, in the Admi-
ralty, yet it was well known that the President
of the Royal Society did, in fact, always name
them. Of these I will only mention one fact.
The late Sir Joseph Banks assigned to me as a
reason why I need not expect to be appointed,
(as he had held out to me at a former period
when I had spoken to him on the subject) that
I had taken a prominent part in the formation
of the Astronomical Society. I am proud of the
part I did take in establishing that Society,
although an undue share of its honour was as-
signed to me by the President.

It may, perhaps, be inquired, why I publish
this fact at this distance of time ? I answer,
that I stated it publicly at the Council of the
Astronomical Society; — that T always talked of it
publicly and openly at the time ; — that I pur-

^M-«<^

OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY.

151

posely communicated it to each succeeding Pre-
sident of the Royal Society ; and that, although
some may have forgotten the communications I
made at the time, there are others who re-
member them well.

The Secretary of the late Board- of Longitude
received 300/., and 200Z. more, as Superinten-
dent of the Nautical Almanac.

Another situation, in the patronage of which
the President is known to have considerable in-
fluence, is that of Astronomer Royal ; and it is
to be observed, that he is kept in the Council
as much as possible, notwithstanding the nature
of his duties.

Of the three appointments of lOOZ. a-year
each, which have been instituted since the abo-
lition of the Board of Longitude, the President
is supposed to have the control, thus making him
quite sure of the obedience of his Council.

Besides these sources of patronage, there are
other incidental occasions on which Government
apply to the Royal Society to recommend proper
persons to make particular experiments or ob-
servations ; and, although I am far from sup-
posing that these are in many instances given
to persons the second or third best qualified
for them, yet they deserve to be mentioned.

• _• •

152

PLAN FOR REFORMING

Section 12,
Of the Plan for reforming the Society.

The indiscriminate admission of every can-
didate became at last so notorious, even beyond
the pale of the Society, that some of the mem-
bers began to perceive the inconveniences to
which it led. This feeling, together with a
conviction that other improvements were neces-
sary to re-establish the Society in public opinion,
induced several of the most active members to
wish for some reform in its laws and proceed-
ings ; and a Committee was appointed to con-
sider the subject. It was perfectly understood,
that the object of this Committee was to in-
quire, — First, as to the means and propriety of
limiting the numbers of this Society ; and then,
as to other changes which they might think
beneficial. The names of the gentlemen com-
posing this Committee were : —

Dr. WoUaston, Mr. Herschel,

Dr. Young, Mr. Babbage,

Mr. Davies Gilbert, Captain Beaufort,

Mr. South, Captain Kater.

THE SOCIETY.

153

The importance of the various improvements
suggested was different in the eyes of different
members. The idea of rendering the Society
so select as to make it an object of ambition to
men of science to be elected into it^ was by no
means new, as the following extract from the
Minutes of the Council will prove : —

MINUTES OF COUNCIL.

Present,

August 27, 1674.

t€
it
U

€€

Sir W. Petty, Vice-President,
Sir John Lowther,
Sir John Cutler,
Sir Christopher Wren,
Mr. Oldenburgh,
. Sir Paul Neile.

** It was considered by this Council, that to
make the Society prosper, good experiments
must be in the first place provided to make the
weekly meetings considerable, and that the ex-
penses for making these experiments must be
secured by legal subscriptions for paying the
contributors ; which done, the Council might
then with confidence proceed to the ejection
of useless Fellows.''

•

154 PLAN FOR REFORMING

The reformers of modern times were less
energetic in the measures they recommended.
Dr. Wollaston and some others thought the
limitation of the numbers of the Society to
be the most ' essential pointy and 400 was sug-
gested as a proper number to be recommended,
in case a limitation should be ultimately re-
solved upon. I confess^ such a limit did not
appear to me to bring great advantages^ espe-
cially when I reflected how long a time must
have elapsed before the 714 members of the
Society could be reduced by death to that num-
ber. And I also thought that as long as those
who alone sustained the reputation of the Society
by their writings and discoveries should be ad-
mitted into it on precisely the same terms, and
on the payment of the same sum of money as
other gentlemen who contributed only with their I

purse, it could never be an object of ambition
to any man of science to be enrolled on its list.

With this view, and also to assist those who
wished for a limitation, I suggested a plan ex-
tremely simple in its nature, and which would
become effective immediately. I proposed that,
in the printed list of the Royal Society, a star
should be placed against the name of each Fellow
who had contributed two or more papers which

THE SOCIETY. 155

had been printed in the Transactions^ or that
such a list should be printed separately at the
end.

At that period there were 109 living members
who had contributed papers to the Transactions,
and they were thus arranged :

37 Contributors of • • 1 paper

21 2 papers

14 3 ditto

5 4 ditto

3 5 ditto

3 6 ditto

12 from 7 to 12 ditto

14 . . . of more than 12 papers.

109 Contributing Fellows of the Royal Society.
589 Papers contributed by them.

Now the immediate effect of printing such
a list would be the division of the Society into
two classes. Supposing two or more papers
necessary for placing a Fellow in the first class,
that class would only consist of seventy-two mem-
bers, which is nearly the same as the number of
those of the Institute of France. If only those
who had contributed three or more were ad-
mitted, then this class would be reduced to fifty-
one. In either of these cases it would obviously
become a matter of ambition to belong to the

156 PLAN FOR REFORMING

first class ; and a more minute investigation into
the value of each paper would naturally take
place before it was admitted into the Transac-
tions. Or it might be established that such
papers only should be allowed to count, as the
Committee, who reported them as fit to be
printed, should also certify. The great objection
made to such an arrangement was, that it would
be displeasing to the rest of the Society, and
that they had a vested right (having entered the
Society when no distinction was made in the
lists) to have them always continued without one.
Without replying to this shadow of an argu-
ment of vested rights, I will only remark that he
who maintains this view pays a very ill compliment
to the remaining 600 members of the Royal So-
ciety ; since he does, in truth, maintain that those
gentlemen who, from their position, accidentally
derive reputation which does not belong to them,
are unwilling, when the circumstance is pointed
out, to allow the world to assign it to those who
have fairly won it; or else that they are inca-
pable of producing any thing worthy of being
printed in the Transactions of the Royal Society.
Lightly as the conduct of the Society, as a body,
has compelled me to think of it, J do not think
so ill of the personal character of its members as

THE SOCIETY.

157

to believe that if the question were fairly stated
to them, many would object to it.

Amongst the alterations which I considered
most necessary to the renovation of the Society,
was the recommendation, by the expiring Council,
of those whom they thought most eligible for
that of the ensuing year.

The system which had got into practice was
radically bad : it is impossible to have an iTidc'
pendent Council if it is named by one person.
Our statutes were framed with especial regard
to securing the fitness of the members elected to
serve in the Council ; and the President is di-
rected, by those statutes, at the two ordinary
meetings previous to the anniversary, to give
notice of the elections, and " to declare how much
it importeth the good of the Society that such
persons may be chosen into the Council as
are most likely to attend the meetings and
** business of the Council, and out of whom may
'' be made the best choice of a President and
" other officers.** This is regularly done ; and,
in mockery of the wisdom of our ancestors, the
President has perhaps in his pocket the list of
the future Council he has already fixed upon.

In some other Societies, great advantage is
found to arise from the discussion of the proper

€<

€€

{

••"^•I

158 PLAN FOR REFORMING

persons to be recommended to the Society for
the Council of the next year. A list is prepared,
by the Secretary, of the old Council, and against
each name is placed the number of times he has
attended the meetings of the Council. Those
mrhose attendance has been least frequent are
presumed to be otherwise engaged, unless absence
from London, or engagement in some pursuit
connected with the Society, are known to have
interfered. Those members who have been on
the Council the number of years which is usually
allowed, added to those who go out by their own
wish, and by non-attendance, are, generally, more
in number than can be spared ; and the question
is never, who shall retire ? — ^but, who, out of the
rest of the Society, is most likely to work, if
placed on the Council ?

If any difiPerence of opinion should exist in a
society, it is always of great importance to its
prosperity to have both opinions represented in
the Council. In this age of discussion it is im-
possible to stifle opinions; and if they are not
represented in the Council, there is some chance
of their being brought before the general body,
or, at last, even before the public. It is cer-
tainly an advantage that questions should be
put, and even that debates should take place on

THE SOCIETY.

159

the days appropriated to the anniversaries of
societies. This is the best check to the com-
mencement of irregularities; and a suspicion
may reasonably be entertained of those who
endeavour to suppress inquiry.

On the other hand, debates respecting the
affairs of the Society should never be entered on
at the ordinary meetings, as they interrupt its
business, and only a partial attendance can be
expected. That the conduct of those who have
latterly managed the Royal Society has not led
to such discussions, is to be attributed more to
the forbearance of those who disapprove of the
line of conduct they have pursued, than to the
discretion of the party in not giving them cause.

The public is the last tribunal ; one to which
nothing but strong necessity should induce an
appeal. There are, however, advantages in it
which may, in some cases, render it better than a
public discussion at the anniversary. When the
cause of complaint is a system rather than any
one great grievance, it may be necessary to enter
more into detail than a speech will permit ; also
the printed statement and arguments will pro*
bably come under the consideration of a larger
number of the members. Another and a con-
siderable benefit is, that there is much less

160 PLAN FOR REFORMING

danger of any expreSwsion of temper interrupting
or injuring the arguments employed.

There were other points suggested, but I shall
subjoin the Report of the Committee : —

Report of the Committee appointed to consider the best
means of limiting the Members admitted into the
Royal Society , as well as to make such Sugges^
tions on that subject as may seem to them conducive
to the welfare of the Society.

Your Committee having maturely considered the
resolution of the Council under which they have been
appointed; and having satisfied themselves that the
progressive increase of the Society has been in a much
higher ratio than the progressive increase of population,
or the general growth of knowledgei or the extension of
those sciences which it has been the great object of the
Society to promote, they have agreed to the following
Report: —

Your Committee assume as indisputable propositions,
that the utility of the Society is in direct proportion to
its respectability. That its respectability can only be
secured by its comprising men of high philosophical
eminence; and that the obvious means of associating
persons of tlus eminence wiU be the public conviction,
that to belong to the Society is an honour. Your Com-
mittee, therefore, think themselves fully home out in the
conclusion, that it would be expedient to limit the
Society to such a number as should be a fidr represen-
tation of the talent of the country; the consequence of
which will be, that every vacancy would become an

V _

THE SOCIETY.

161

object of competition among persons of acknowledged
merit

From the returns which have been laid on your table,
of the FeDows who have contributed papers, and from
the best estimate they can make of the persons without
doors who are engaged in the active pursuit of science,
your Committee feel justified in recommending that
those limits should be fixed at four hundred, exclusive
of foreign members, and of such royal personages as it
may be thought proper to admit.

As many years must elapse before the present number
of seven hundred and fourteen can be reduced to those
limits by the course of nature, and as it would be
prejudicial to the interests of the Society and of science,
that no fresh accessions should t&ke place during that
long period, your Committee would further recommend,
that till that event takes place, four new members
should be annually admitted.

With respect to the manner of admission, your Com-
mittee are of opinion, that there are several inconve-
niences in the present mode of proceeding to a single
ballot upon each certificate, according to its seniority.
If the above limitation should be adopted, it may be
presumed, that for every vacancy there will be many
candidates ; from amongst them, it must be the general
wish to select the most distinguished individuals ; but to
accomplish this, if the present system were to be con-
tinued, it would be necessary to reject all those candi-
dates whose certificates were of earlier date than theirs ;
a process not only extremely irritating, but probably
inefiectual from the want of unanimity. Your Com-
mittee, therefore, most earnestly recommend, that one

162 PLAN FOR REFORMING

general election should take place every year towards
the end of the session, and that this should be conducted
on the same principles as the present annual election of
the Coundl and officers ; viz. by having lists printed of
all the candidates (whose certificates had been suspended
for the usual timei) in which lists each 'Fellow would
mark the reqmsite number of persons.

As the charter, however, requires^ the concurrence of
two-thirds of the Fellows present, your Committee
suggest, that after the choice has been determined by the
plurality of votes by ballot in the above manner, the
successful candidates should be again submitted to a
general vote, m accordance with the enactments of the
said charter.

In concluding this |>art of the subject, your Committee
beg leave to remark, that by the method now proposed,
the invidious act of blackballing would cease, and unth
it all feelings of resentment and mortification; as the
result of such an open competition could only be con-
strued hj the public into a fidr preference of the
superior claims of the successful few, and, not into a
direct and disgraceful rejection of the others.

Your Committee are fully aware, that such a reduction
in the usual admissions would materially affect the
pecuniary resources of the Society ; but they are at the
same time convinced, that by a vigorous economy its
present income might be rendered adequate to all its
real wants, and the aggregate expenditure might be
considerably diminished by many small but wholesome
retrenchments.

It appears, from the accounts of last year, that al-
though 1200/. was received for compositions, in addition

■-»%'>

■ !

THE SOCIETY.

163

to the standing income, and usual contributions, &c.,
and although no money was invested, yet there was a
balance only of a few pounds at the end of the year.
It further appears, that 500/. was paid for the paper,
370/. for engravings, and nearly 340/. for printing ; and
from those alarming facts, jour Committee submit to
your consideration, whether the expenditure might not
be beneficially controlled by a standing Committee of
Finance.

In obedience to the latter part of your resolution,
your Committee now proceed to offer some further
suggestions for your consideration. They conceive that
it would afford a beneficial stimulus to individual exer-
tion, if the Fellows who have received the medals of
the Society, and those who have repeatedly enriched its
Transactions, were distinguished by being collected into a
separate and honourable list It would also be found,
perhaps, not less a future incentive than an act of retro-
spective justice, if the names of all those illustrious
Fellows who have formerly obtained the medals, as well
as of all those individuals who have been large beneiactors
to the Society, were recorded at the end of the list It
would be a satisfactory addition likewise to the annual
list, if all those Fellows who have died, or had been
admitted witiiin the preceding year, were regularly
noticed. And your Committee think, that these lists
should always form part of the Transactions,^ and be
stitched up with the last part of the volume.

It requires no argmnent to demonstrate that the well-
being of the Society mainly depends on the activity and
integrity of its Council ; and as their selection is unques-
tionably of paramount importance, your Committee

M 2

-L

164 PLAN FOR REFORMIXG

hope that our excellent President will not con»der it any
impeachment of his impartiality^ or any doubt of his
zeal, if they venture to suggest, that the usual recom-
mendation to the Society of proper members for the
future Council should henceforth be conndered as a fit
subject for the diligent and anxious deliberation of the
expiring CWnciL

There is another point of great moment to the cha-
racter of the Society, and to the dignified station it
occupies among the learned associations of Europe ; for
its character abroad can only be appreciated by the
nature and value of its Transactions. Your Committee
allude to the important task of dedding on what papers
should be published; and they are of opinion that it
would be a material improvement on the present mode,
if each paper were referred to a separate Committee,
who should have sufficient time given them to examine
it carefully, who should be empowered to communicate
on any doubtful parts with the author ; and who should
report, not only their opinion, but the grounds on which
that opinion is formed, for the ultimate decision of the
Council.

If it should be thought fit to adopt the suggestions
which your Committee have now had the honour of
proposing, they beg leave to move, that' another Com-
mittee be appointed, with directions to frame or to alter
the necessary statutes, so that they may be in strict
accordance with the charters.

In concluding the Report, your Committee do not wish
to disguise the magnitude of some of the measures they
have thought it their duty to propose ; on the contrary,
they would not only urge the fullest discussion of their

• 4

THE SOCIETY. 165

expediency; but further, that if you should even be
unanimously disposed to confirm them, your Committee
would recommend, that the several statutes, when they
have been drawn up or modified, should be only entered
on your minutes, and not finally enacted. All innova-
tions in the constitution, or even the habits of the Royal
Society, should be scrutinized with the most jealous
circumspection. It is enough for the present Council to
have traced the plan; let the Council of the ensuing
sessions share the credit of carrying that plan into effect

This Report was presented to the Council very
late in the session of 1827, and on the 25th of
June there occurs the following entry on the
council-book : —

'' The Report of the Committee for considering
*' the best means of limiting the number of mem-
" hers, and such other suggestions as they may
*' think conducive to the good of the Society, was
'* received and read, and ordered to be entered
'' on the minutes ; and the Council, regarding the
'* importance of the subject, and its bearings on
'* the essential interests of the Society, in con-
formity with the concluding paragraph, and
considering also the advanced stage of the
*' session, recommend it to the most serious and
'* early consideration of the Council for the
'* ensuing year."

a
it

166 PLAN FOR REFORMING THE SOCIETY.

Those who advocated these alterations, were in
no hurry for their hasty adoption; they were
aware of their magnitude, and anxious for the
fullest investigation before one of them should
be tried.

Unfortunately, the concluding recommendation
of the Committee did not coincide with the views
of Mr. Gilbert, whom the party had determined
to make their new President. That gentleman
made such arrangements for the Council of the
succeeding year, that when the question respect-
ing the consideration of the Report of that Com-
mittee was brought forward, it was thrown aside
in the manner I have stated (page 149.) Thus a
report, sanctioned by the names of such a com-
mittee, and recommended by one Council to
'' the most serious and early consideration of the
Council for the ensuing year,'' was by that very
Council rejected, without even the ceremony of
discussing its merits. Was every individual re-
commendation it contained, not merely unfit to
be adopted, but so totally deficient in plausibility
as to be utterly unworthy of discussion ? Or did
the President and his officers feel, that their
power rested on an insecure foundation, and that
they did not possess the confidence of the work-
ing members of the Society ?

fc*

CHAPTER V.

OP OBSERVATIONS.

There are several reflections connected with
the art of making ohservations and experiments^
which may be conveniently arranged in this
chapter.

Section 1.

Of Mifiute Precision.

No person will deny that the highest degree
of attainable accuracy is an object to be desired^
^ and it is generally found that the last advances
towards precision require a greater devotion of
time, labour, and expense, than those which
precede them. The first steps in the path of
dbcovery, and the first approximate measures,
are those which add most to the existing know-
ledge of mankind.

. The extreme accuracy required in some of our
modem inquiries has, in some respects, had an
unfortunate influence, by favouring the opinion.

«
<

16S OF MINUTE PRECISION.

that no experiments are valuable^ unless the
measures are most minute, and the accordance
amongst them most perfect. It may, perhaps, be
of some use to show, that even with large instru-
ments, and most practised observers, this is but
rarely the case. The following extract is taken
from a representation made by the present Astro-
nomer-Royal, to the Council of the Royal Society,
on the advantages to be derived from the employ-
ment of two mural circles : —

*' That by observing, with two instruments,
the same objects at the same time, and in the
same manner, we should' be able to estimate how
much of that occasional discordance from the
mean, which attends even tJie most careful
observatio7is, ought to be attributed to irregu-
larity of refraction, and how much to the imper-
fections of instruments''

In confirmation of this may be adduced the
opinion of the late M. Delambre, which is the
more important, from the statement it contains
relative to the necessity of publishing all the
observations which have been made.

" Mais quelque soit le parti que Ton pr6ffere,
il me semble qu'on doit tout publier. Ces irr6-
gularit6s mSmes sont des faits qu'il importe de
connoitre. Les soins les jjIus attentifs rCen sau-

♦ 1

OF MINUTE PRECISION.

169

roient preserver les ohsertateurs les plus exercSs,
et celui qui ne produiroit que des angles toujours
parfaitment d'accord auroit 6t6 singuli^rement
bien servi par les circonstances ou ne seroit pas
bien sincere.** — Base de Systhme Metrique, Dis-
cours Preliminaire, p. 158.

This desire for extreme accuracy has called
away the attention of experimenters from points
of far greater importance^ and it seems to have
been too much overlooked in the present day,
that genius marks its tracts not by the obser-
vation of quantities inappreciable to any but the
acutest senses^ but by placing Nature in such
circumstances, that she is forced to record her
minutest variations on so magnified a scale, that
an observer, possessing ordinary faculties, shall
find them legibly written. He who can see por-
tions of matter beyond the ken of the rest of
his species, confers an obligation on them, by
recording what he sees ; but their knowledge
depends both on his testimony and on hb judg-
ment. He who contrives a method of rendering
such atoms visible to ordinary observers, commu-
nicates to mankind an instrument of discovery,
and stamps his own observations with a character,
alike independent of testimony or of judgment.

Section 2.
On tlie Art of Observing.

The remarks in this section are not proposed
for the assistance of those who are already ob*
servers^ but are intended to show to persons not
familiar with the subject^ that in observations
demanding no unrivalled accuracy^ the principles
of common sense may be safely trusted^ and that
any gentleman of liberal education may^ by per-
severance and attention^ ascertain the limits
within which he may trust both his instrument
and himself.

If the instrument is a divided one^ the first
thing is to learn to read the verniers. If the
divisions are so fine that the coincidence is fre-
quently doubtful, the best plan will be for the
learner to get some acquaintance who b skilled
in the use of instruments, and having set the
instrument at hazard, to write down the readings
of the verniers, and then request his friend to
do the same; whenever there is any difference,
he should carefully examine the doubtful one,
and ask his friend to point out the minute pecu-

170 ON THE ART OF OBSERVING. <

ON THE ART OF OBSERVING.

171

liarities on which he founds his decision. This
should be repeated frequently; and after some
practice^ he should note how many times in a
hundred his reading differs from his friend's^ and
also how many divisions they usually differ.

The next point is^ to ascertain the precision
with which the learner can bisect an object with
the wires of the telescope. This can be done
without assistance. It is not necessary even to
adjust the instrument^ but merely to point it
to a distant object. When it bbects any re-
markable point, read off the verniers, and write
down the result; then displace the telescope
a little, and adjust it again. A series of such
observations will show the confidence which is
due to the observer's eye in bisecting an object^
and also in reading the verniers; and as the
first direction gave him some measure of the
latter, he may, in a great measure, appreciate
his skill in the former. He should also, when
^ he finds a deviation in the reading, return to the
telescope, and satisfy himself if he has made the
bisection as complete as he can. In general,
the student should practise each adjustment
separately, and write down the results wherever
he can measure its deviations.

Having thus practised the adjustments, the

172 ON THE ART OF OBSERVING.

next step is to make an observation ; but in order
to try both himself and the instrument, let him
take the altitude of some fixed object, a ter-
restrial one^ and having registered the result,
let him derange the adjustment, and repeat the
process fifty or a hundred times. This will
not merely afibrd him excellent practice^ but
enable him to judge of his own skill.

The first step in the use of every instrument,
is to find the limits within which its employer
can measure the same object under tJie same
circumstances. It is only from a knowledge of
this, that he can have confidence in his measures
of the same object under different circumstances,
and after that, of different objects under dif-
ferent circumstances.

These principles are applicable to almost all
instruments. If a person is desirous of ascertain-
ing heights by a mountain barometer, let him
begin by adjusting the instrument in his own
study; and having made the upper contact, let
him write down the reading of the vernier^ and
then let him derange the upper adjustment only,
re-adjust, and repeat the reading. When he is
satisfied about the limits within which he can
make that adjustment, let him do the same re-
peatedly with the lower ; but let him not, until

<m^mmi

mm^irmm'^-mt^'-^^-m^

ON THE ART OF OBSERVING.

173

he knows his own errors in reading and adjusting,
pronounce upon those of the instrument. In the
case of a barometer, he must also be assured, that
the temperature of the mercury does not change
during the interval.

A friend once brought to me a beautifully con-
structed piece of mechanism, for marking minute
portions of time ; the three-hundredth parts of a
second were indicated by it. It was a kind of
watch, with a pin for stopping one of the hands.
I proposed that we should each endeavour to
stop it twenty times in succession, at the same
point. We were both equally unpractised, and
our first endeavours showed that we could not
be confident of the twentieth part of a second.
In fact, both the time occupied in causing the
extremities of the fingers to obey the volition, as
well as the time employed in compressing the
flesh before the fingers acted on the stop, ap-
peared to influence the accuracy of our observa-
tions. From some few experiments I made, I
thought I perceived that the rapidity of the trans-
mission of the effects of the will, depended on the
state of fatigue or health of the body. If any
one were to make experiments on this subject, it
might be interesting, to compare the rapidity of
the transmission of volition in different persons.

174 FRAUDS OF OBSERVERS.

with the time occupied in ohliterating an im-
pression made on one of the senses of the same
persons. For example, hy having a mechamsm ^ |

to make a piece of ignited charcoal revolve with
different degrees of velocity, some persons will
perceive a continuous circle of light before others,
whose retina does not retiun so long impressions
that are made upon it.

Section 3.

On the Frauds of Observers.

Scientific inquiries are more exposed than
most others to the inroads of pretenders ; and I
feel that I shall deserve the thanks of all who
really value truth, hy stating some of the methods
of deceiving practised by unworthy claimants
for its honours, whilst the mere circumstance
of their arts being known may deter future
offenders.

There are several species of impositions that
have been practised in science, which are but
little known, except to the initiated, and which it
may perhaps be possible to render quite intelli-

'j>^

FRAUDS OF OBSERVERS.

175

gible to ordinary understandings. These may
be classed under the heads of hoaxing, forging,
trimming, and cooking.

Of Hoaxing. This, perhaps, will be better
explained by an example. In the year 1788,
M. Gioeni, a knight of Malta, publbhed at
Naples an account of a new family of Testacea,
of which he described, with great minuteness,
one species, the specific name of which has
been taken from its habitat, and the generic
he took from his own family, calling it Gioenia
Sicula. It consisted of two rounded triangular
valves, united by the body of the animal to a
smaller valve in front. He gave figures of the
animal, and of its parts ; described its structure,
its mode of advancing along the sand, the figure
of the tract it left^ and estimated the velocity
of its course at about two-thirds of an inch per
minute. He then described the structure of the
shell, which he treated with nitric acid, and found
it approach nearer to the nature of bone than
any other shelL

The editors of the Encyclopidie MetliOcUgue,
have copied this description, and have given
figures of the Gioenia Sicula. The fact, however,
is, that no such animal exists, but that the

<i'

1 1

r —

* Bulla lignaria.

-|- The number of vertebrae in the neck of the plesiosaurus
18 a strange but ascertained fact.

X The kind of contradiction which is here alluded to, is
that which arises from rvell ascertained final causes ; for in-
stancCy the ruminating stomach of the hoofed animals, is in
no case combined with the claw-shaped form of the ex-
tremities, frequent in many of the camiverous animals, and
necessary to some of them for the purpose of seizing their

176 FRAUDS OF OBSERVERS.

knight of Malta, finding on the Sicilian shores
the three internal bones of one 6f the species
of Bulla, of which some are found on the f ,

■

south-western coast of England,* described and
figured these bones most accurately, and drew
the whole of the rest of the description from the
stores of his own imagination.

Such frauds are far from justifiable ; the only
excuse which has been made for them is, when
they have been practised on scientific academies
which had reached the period of dotage. It
should however be remembered, that the pro-
ductions of nature are so various, that mere
strangeness*}" is very far from sufficient to render
doubtful the existence of any creature for which
there is evidence; and that, unless the memoir
itself involves principles so contradictory,]: as to
outweigh the evidence of a. single witness, it

FRAUDS OF OBSERVERS. 177

can only be regarded as a deception^ without
the accompamment of wit.

Forging differs from hoaxing, inasmuch as in
the latter the deceit is intended to last for a
time, and then be discovered, to the ridicule of
those who have credited it ; whereas the forger
is one who, wishing to acquire a reputation for
science, records observations which he has never
made. This is sometimes accomplished in astro-
nomical observations by calculating the time and
circumstances of the phenomenon from tables:
The observations of the second comet of 1784,
which was only seen by the Chevalier D*Angos,
were long suspected to be a forgery, and were
at length proved to be so by the calculations
and reasonings of Encke. The pretended ob-
servations did not accord amongst each other in
giving any possible orbit. But M. Encke de-
tected an orbit, belonging to some of the obser-
vations, from which he found that all the rest
might be almost precisely deduced, provided a
mistake of a unity in the index of the logarithm
of the radius vector were supposed to have been
made in all the rest of the calculations. Zach.
Corr. Astron. Tom. IV. p. 456.

Fortunately instances of the occurrence of
forging are rare.

178 FRAUDS OF OBSERVERS.

Trimming consists in clipping off little bits
here and there from those observations \?hich
differ most in excess from the mean, and in
sticking them on to those which are too small ;
a species of '^ equitable adjustment,*" as a radical
would term it, which cannot be admitted in
scienne.

This fraud is not perhaps so injurious (except
to the character of the trimmer) as cooking,
which the next paragraph will teach. The rea-
son of this is, that the average given by the
observations of the trimmer is the same, whether
they are trimmed or untrimmed. His object is
to gain a reputation for extreme accuracy in
making observations ; but from respect for truth,
or from a prudent foresight, he does not distort
the position of the fact he gets from nature, and
it is usually difficult to detect him. He has more
sense or less adventure than the Cook. '

Of Cooking. This is an art of various forms,
the object of which is to give to ordinary ob-
servations the appearance and character of those
of the highest degree of accuracy.

One of its numerous processes is to make
multitudes of observations, and out of these to
select those only which agree, or very nearly
agree. If a hundred observations are made, the

FRAUDS OF OBSERVERS.

179

cook must be very unlucky if he cannot pick
out fifteen or twenty which will do for serving up.

Another approved receipt, when the observa-
tions to be used will not come within the limit
of accuracy, which it has been resolved they shall
possess, is to calculate them by two different
formulae. The difference in the constants em-
ployed in those formulae has sometimes a most
happy effect in promoting unanimity amongst
discordant measures. If still greater accuracy
is required, three or more formulae can be
used.

It must be admitted that this receipt is in
some instances rather hazardous: but in cases
where the positions of stars, as given in different
catalogues, occur, or different tables of specific
gravities, specific heats, &c. &c., it may safely be
employed. As no catalogue contains all stars,
the computer must have recourse to several ; and
if he is obliged to use his judgment in the se-
lection, it would be cruel to deny him any little
advantage which might result from it It may,
however, be necessary to guard against one mis-
take into which persons might fall.

If an observer calculate particular stars from
a catalogue which makes them accord precisely
with the rest of his results, whereas, had they

N 2

ISO FRAUDS OF OBSERVERS.

been computed from other catalogues the diffe-
rence would hare been considerable, it is very
unfair to accuse him of cooking; for — those
catalogues may have been notoriously inaccurate ;
or — they may have been superseded by others
more recent, or made with better instruments;
or — the observer may have been totally ignorant
of their existence.

It sometimes happens that the ^constant quan-
tities in formulae given by the highest authorities,
although they differ amongst themselves, yet
they will not suit the materials. This is pre-
cisely the point in which the skill of the artist
is shown ; and an accomplished cook will carry
himself triumphantly through it, provided hap-
pily some mean value of such constants will fit
his observations. He will discuss the relative
merits of formulae he has just knowledge enough
to use; and, with admirable candour assigning
their proper share of applause to Bessel, to
Gauss, and to Laplace, he will take that mean
value of the constant used by three such philo-
sophers, which will make his own observations
accord to a miracle.

There are some few reflections which I would
venture to suggest to those who cook, although
they may perhaps not receive the attention which.

FRAUDS OF OBSERVERS.

181

in ray opinion, they deserve, from not coming
from the pen of an adept.

In the first place, it must require much time
to try different formulas. In the next place
it may happen that, in the progress of human
knowledge, more correct formulae may be dis-
covered, and constants may be determined
with far greater precision. Or it may be found
that some physical circumstance influences the
results, (although unsuspected at the time) the
measure of which circumstance may perhaps be
recovered from other contemporary registers of
facts.* Or if the selection of observations has
been made with the view of its agreeing precisely
with the latest determination, there is some little
danger that the average of the whole may differ
from that of the chosen ones, owing to some
law of nature, dependent on the interval between
the two sets, which law some future philo-
sopher may discover, and thus the very best
observations may have been thrown aside.

In all these, and in numerous other cases, it
would most probably happen that the cook
would procure a temporary reputation for un-
rivalled accuracy at the expense of his permanent

* Imagine, by way of example, the state of the barometer

182 FRAUDS OF OBSERVERS.

fame. It might also have the effect of rendering
even all his crude observations of no value ; for that
part of the scientific world whose opinion b of
most weight, is generally so unreasonablcj as to
neglect altogether the observations of those in
whom they have, on any occasion, discovered
traces of the artist. In fact, the character of an
observer, as of a woman, if doubted is destroyed.

The manner in which facts apparently lost are
restored to light, even after considerable intervals
of time, is sometimes very unexpected, and a few
examples may not be without their use. The
thermometers employed by the philosophers
who composed the Academia Del Cimento, have
been lost; and as they did not use the two
fixed points of freezing and boiling water, the
results of a great mass of observations have re-
mained useless from our ignorance of the value
of a degree on their instrument. M. Libri, of
Florence, proposed to regain this knowledge by
comparing their registers of the temperature of
the human body and of that of some warm springs
in Tuscany, which have preserved their heat
uniform during a century, as well as of other
things similarly circumstanced.

Another Ulustration was pointed out to me
by M. Gazzeri, the Professor of Chemistry at

FRAUDS OF OBSERVERS.

183

Florence. A few years ago an important
suit in one of the legal courts of Tuscany de-
pended on ascertaining whether a certain word
had been erased by some chemical process from
a deed then before the court. The party
who insisted that an erasure had been made,
availed themselves of the knowledge of M. Gaz-
zeri, who, concluding that those who committed
the fraud would be satisfied by the disappearance
of the colouring matter of the ink, suspected
(either from some colourless matter remaining
in the letters, or perhaps from the agency of
the solvent having weakened the fabric of the
paper itself beneath the supposed letters) that
the effect of the slow application of heat would
be to render some difference of texture or of ap-
plied substance evident, by some variety in the
shade of colour which heat in such circumstances
might be expected to produce. Permission
having been given to try the experiment, on the
application of heat the important word re-
appeared, to the great satisfaction of the court.

iipfl " ' •-•i»i^»«»Hi

CHAP. VI.

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE

IN ENGLAND.

Section 1.

Of the Necessity that Members of the Royal
Society should express their Opinions.

One of the causes which has contributed to
the success of the party, is to be found in the
great reluctance with which many of those whose
names added lustre to the Society expressed their
opinions, and the little firmness with which they
maintained their objections. How many, times
have those whose activity was additionally sti-
mulated by their interest, proposed measures
which a few words might have checked ; whilst
the. names of those whose culpable silence thus
permitted the project to be matured, were im-
mediately afterwards cited by their grateful
coadjutors, as having sanctioned that which
in their hearts they knew to be a job.

SUGGESTIONS.

185

Even in the few cases which have passed the
limits of such forbearance^ when the subject has
been debated in the Council, more than one,
more than two instances are known^ where
subsequent circumstances have occurred, which
proved, with the most irresistible moral evidence,
that members have spoken on one side of the
question, and have voted on the contrary.

This reluctance to oppose that which is dis-
approved, has been too extensively and too
fatally prevalent for the interests of the Royal
Society. It may partly be attributed to that
reserved and retiring disposition, which fre-
quently marks the man of real knowledge, as
strongly as an officious interference and flippant
manner do the charlatan, or the trader in science.
Some portion of it is due to that improper de-
ference which was long paid to every dictum of
the President, and much of it to that natural
indisposition to take trouble on any point in
which a man's own interest is not immediately
concerned. It is to be hoped, for the credit of
that learned body, that no anticipation of the
next feast of St. Andrew* ever influenced the
taciturnity of their disposition.

* It may be necessary to inform those who are not mem-
bers of the Royal Society, that this is the day on which those

186 BIENNIAL PRESIDENTS.

Section 2.

Of Biennial Presidents.

The days in which the Royal Society can have
much influence in science seem long past; nor
does it appear a matter of great importance who
conduct its mismanaged affairs. Perpetual Pre-. *
sidents have been tried until the Society has
become disgusted with dictators. If any reform
should be attempted^ it might perhaps be de-
serving consideration whether the practice of
several of the younger institutions might not be
worthy imitation^ and the office of President be

Fellows who choose, meet at Somerset House, to register the
names of the Council and Officers the President has been
pleased to appoint for the ensuing year; and who after-
wards dine together, for the purpose of praising each other
over wine, which, until within these few years, was faxd for
out of the fundi of the Society. This abuse was attacked
by an enterprising reformer, and of course defended by the
coterie* It was, however, given up as too bad. The public
may form some idea of the feeling which prevails in the
Council, when they are informed that this practice was de-
fended by one of the officers of the Society, on the ground
that, if abolished, the Assistant Secretary would lose his per
centage on the tavern bills, '

COLLEGES OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS. 187

continued only during two sessions. There may
be some inconveniences attending this arrange-
ment ; but the advantages are conspicuous, both
in the Astronomical and Geological Societies.
Each President is ambitious of rendering the
period of his reign remarkable for some improve-
ment in the Society over which he presides ; and
the sacrifice of time which is made by the officers
of those Societies, would become impossible if it
were required to be continued for a much longer
period. Another circumstance of considerable
importance is, that the personal character of the
President is less impressed on the Society ; and,
supposing any injudicious alterations to be made,
it is much less difficult to correct them.

Section 3.

Of tlie Influence of the Colleges of Physicians
arid Sturgeons in the Royal Society.

The honour of belonging to the Royal Society
is much sought after by medical men, as contri-
buting to the success of their professional efforts,
and two consequences result from it. In the first

183 INFLUENCE OF THE ROYAL INSTITUTION.

place, the pages of the Transactions of the Royal
Society occasionally contain medical papers of
very moderate merit; and, in the ^cond, the
preponderance of the medical interest introduces
into the Society some of the jealousies of that
profession. On the other hand, medicine is inti-
mately connected with many sciences, and its
professors are usually too much occupied in their
practice to exert themselves, except upon great
occasions.

Section 4.

Of tlie Influence of the Royal Institution on the

Royal Society.

The Royal Institution was founded for the
cultivation of the more popular and elementary
branches of scientific knowledge, and has risen,
partly from the splendid discoveries of Davy, and
partly from the decline of the Royal Society, to
a more prominent station than it would otherwise
have occupied in the science of England. Its
general effects in diffusing knowledge among the
more educated classes of the metropolis, have

.dU

INFLUENCE OF THE ROYAL INSTITUTION. 189

been^ and continue to be^ valuable. Its influencef
however, in the government of the Royal Society,
is by no means attended with similar advantages,
and has justly been viewed with considerable
jealousy by many of the Fellows of that body.
It may be stated, without disparagement to the
Royal Institution, that the scientific qualifications
necessary for its officers, however respectable,
are not quite of that high order which ought to
be required for those of the Royal Society, if the
latter body were in a state of vigour.

The Royal Institution interest has always been
sufficient to appoint one of the Secretaries of the
Royal Society ; and at the present moment they
have appointed two. In a short time, unless
some effectual check is put to this, we shall, find
them nominating the President and the rest of
the officers. It is certainly not consistent with
the dignity of the Royal Society thus to allow
its offices to be given away as the rewards of
services rendered to other institutions. The only
effectual way to put a stop to this increasing
interest would be, to declare that no manager
or officer of the Royal Institution should ever, at
the same time, hold office in the Royal Society.

The use the Members of the Royal Institu-
tion endeavour to make of their power in the

190 TRANSACTIONS OF

Council of the Royal Society, is exemplified in
the minutes of the Council of March 11, 1830,
which may be consulted with advantage by those
who doubt.

Section 5.
Of the Transactions of the Royal Society.

The Transactions of the Royal Society, unlike
those of most foreign academies, contain no-
thing relating to the history of the Society. The
volumes contain merely those papers communi-
cated to the Society in the preceding year which
the Council have selected for printing, a meteoro-
logical register, and a notice of the award of the
annual medals, without any list of the Council
and officers of the Society, by whom that selection
and that award have been made.

Before I proceed to criticise this state of things,
I will mention one point on which I am glad to
be able to bestow on the Royal. Society the
highest praise. I refer to the extreme regularity
with which the volumes of the Transactions are
published. The appearance of the half-volumes
at intervals of six months, insures for any com-

THE ROYAL SOCIETY.

191

xnunication almost immediate publicity; whilst
the shortness of the time between its recep-
tion and publication, is a guarantee to the public
that the whole of the paper was really com-
municated at the time it bears date. To this
may also be added, the rarity of any altera-
tions made previously to the printing, a circum-
stance which ought to be imitated, as well as
admired, by other societies. There may, indeed,
be some, perhaps the Geological, in which the task
is more difficult, from the nature of the subject.
The sooner, however, all societies can reduce
themselves to this rule, of rarely allowing any
thing but a few verbal corrections to papers that
are placed in their hands, the better it will be
for their own reputation, and for the interests
of science.

It has been, and continues to be, a subject of
deep regret, that the first scientific academy in
Europe, the Institute of France, should be thus
negligent in the regularity of its publications ;
and it is the more to be regretted, that it should
be years in arrear, from the circumstance, that the
memoirs admitted into their collection are usually
of the highest merit. I know some of their most
active members have wished it were otherwise ;
I would urge them to put a stop to a practice.

192 TRANSACTIONS OF

\vhich^ whilst it has no advantages to recommend
itj is unjust to those who contribute, and is only
calculated to produce conflicting claims, equally
injurious to science, and to the reputation of that
body, whose negligence may have given rise to
them.*

One of the inconveniences arising from having
no historical portion in the volumes of the Royal
Society is, that not only the public, but our own
members are almost entirely ignorant of all its
affairs. With a means of giving considerable
publicity (by the circulation of above 800 copies
of the Transactions) to whatever we wish to have
made known to our members or to the world,
will it be credited, that no notice was taken in
our volume for 1826, of the foundation of two
Royal medals, nor of the conditions under which
they were to be distributed ?f That in 1828, when

♦ Mr. Herschel, speaking of a paper of Fresnel's, ob-.
serves—" This memoir was read to the Institute, 7th of
October, 1816; a supplement was received, 19 th of January,
1818 ; M. Arago's report on it was read, 4th of June, 1821 :
and while every optical philosopher in Europe has been
impatiently expecting its appearance for seven years, it lies
as yet unpublished, and is only known to us by meagre no-
tices in a periodical journal." Mr. HerseheVi Treatise on
Light y p. 533. — Encyclopaedia Metropolitana,

f That the Council refrained from having their first

THE ROYAL SOCIETY.

IDS

a new fund^ called the donation fund^ was esta-
blished, and through the liberality of Dr. Wol-
laston and Mr. Davies Gilbert, it was endowed
by them with the respective sums of 2,000/. and
1,000/. 3 per cents ; no notice of such fact appears
in our Transactions for 1829. Other gentlemen
have contributed ; and if it is desirable to possess
such a fund, it is surely of importance to inform
the non-attending, which is by far the largest
part of the Society, that it exists ; and that we
are grateful to those by whom it has been founded
and augmented. Neither did the Philosophical
Transactions inform our absent members, that
they could purchase the President's Discourses at
the trade-price.

The list of the Officers, Council, and Members
of the Royal Society is printed annually; yet,
who ever saw it bound up with the Philosophical
Transactions, to which it is intended to be at-
tached ? I never met with a single copy of that
work so completed, not even the one in our own
library. It is extremely desirable that the So-
ciety should know the names of their Council ;
and whilst it would in some measure contribute

award of those medals thus communicatedi is rather credit-
able to them, and proves that they had a becoming feeling
respecting their former errors.

194 TRANSACTIONS OP

to prevent the President from placing incom-
petent persons upon it, it would also afford
some check, although perhaps but a slight one,
on the distribution of the medals. When I have
urged the expediency of the practice, I have been
answered by excuses, that the list could not be
made up in time for the volume. If this is true
of the first part, they might appear with the
second ; and even if this were impracticable, the
plan of prefixing them to the volume of the suc-
ceeding year, would be preferable to that of
omitting them altogether. The true reason,
however, appeared at last. It was objected to
the plan, that by the present arrangement, the
porter of the Royal Society took round the list
to those members resident in London, and got
from some of them a remuneration, in the shape
oftt Christmas-box;* and this would be lost, if
the time of printing were changed. Such are
the paltry interests to which those of the Royal
Society are made to bow.

Another point on which information ought
to be given in each volume, is the conditions
on which the distribution of the Society's medals

* During the printing of this chapter, a friend, on whom
I had called, complained that the porter of the Royal Society
had demanded half-a-crown for leaving the list

i.-»

THE ROYAL SOCIETY.

195

are made. It is true that these are^ or ought
to be, printed with the Statutes of the Society ;
but that Tolume is only in the hands of members,
and it is for the credit of the medals themselves,
that the laws which regulate their award should
be widely known, in order that persons, not
members of the Society, might enter into com-
petition for them.

Information relative to the admissions and
deaths amongst the Society would also be in-
teresting ; a list of the names of those whom
the Society had lost, and of those members who
had been added to its ranks each year, would find
a proper place in the historical pages which
ought to be given with each volume of our
Transactions.

The want of a distinction between the work-
ing members of the Society, and those who
merely honour it with their patronage, renders
many arrangements, which would be advan*
tageous to science, in some cases, injudicious,
and in other instances, almost impossible.

Collections of Observations which are from
time to time given to the Society, may be of
such a nature, that but few of the members are
interested in them. In such cases, the expense
of printing above 800 copies may reasonably

196 TRANSACTIONS OF

induce the Council to decline printing them
altogether ; whereas, if they had any means of
discrimination for distributing them, they might
be quite willing to incur the expense of printing
250. Other cases may occur, in which great
advantage would accrue, if the principle were
once admitted. Government, the Universities,
public bodies, and even individuals might, in some
cases, be disposed to present to the Royal So-
ciety a limited number of copies of their works,
if they knew that they were likely to be placed
in the hands of persons who would use them.
Fifty or a hundred additional copies might, in
some cases, not be objected to on the ground of
expense, when seven or eight hundred would be
quite out of the question.

Lei us suppose twenty copies of a descrip-
tion of some new chemical process to be placed at
the disposal of the Royal Society by any public
body ; it will not surely be contended that they
ought all to remain on the Society's shelves.
Yet, with our present rules, that would be the
ease. If, however, the list of the Members of
the Society were read over to the Council, and
the names of those gentlemen known to be
conversant with chemical science were written
down ; then, if nineteen copies of the work were

THE ROYAL SOCIETY.

197

given to those nineteen persons on this list^ who
had contributed most to the Transactions of the
Society, they would in all probability be placed
in the fittest hands.

Complete sets of the Philosophical Trans-
actions have now become extremely bulky; it
might be well worth our consideration, whether
the knowledge of the many valuable papers they
contain would not be much spread, by publishing
the abstracts of them which have been read at
the ordinary meetings of the Society. Perhaps
two or three volumes octavo, would contain aU
that has been done in this way during the last
century.

Another circumstance, which would contribute
much to the order of the proceedings of the
Council, would be to have a distinct list made
out of all the statutes and orders of the Council
relating to each particular subject.

Thus the President, by having at one view
before him all that had ever been decreed on the
question under consideration, would be much
better able to prevent inconsistent resolutions,
and to save the time of the Council from being
wasted by unnecessary discussions.

198 ORDER OF MERIT.

Section 6.
Order cf Merit.

Amongst the various proposals for encouraging
science, the institution of an order of merit has
been suggested. It is somewhat singular, that
whilst in most of the other kingdoms * of Europe,
such orders exist for the purpose of rewarding,
by honorary distinctions, the improvers of the
arts of life, or successful discoverers in science,
nothing of the kind has been established in
England.

Our orders of knighthood are favourable only
to military distinction. It has been urged, as an
argument for such institutions, that they are a
cheap mode of rewarding science, whilst, on the

* At the great meeting of the philosophers at Berlin, in
1828, of which an account is given in the Appendix; the
respect in which Berzelius, Oersted, Gauss, and Humboldt
were held in tlieir respective countries was apparent in the
orders bestowed on them by the Sovereigns of Sweden, of
Denmark, of Hanover, and of Prussia ; and there were
present many other philosophers, whose decorations suflS*
ciently attested the respect in which science was held in the
countries from which they came.

^kHtkM

ORDER OF MERIT. 199

Other hand, it has been objected^ that they would

diminish the value of such honorary distinctions

by making them common. The latter objection

is of little weight, because the numbers who

pursue science are few, and, probably, will long

continue so. It would also be easily avoided,

by restricting the number of the order or of

the class, if it were to form a peculiar class of

another order. Another objection, however,

appears to me to possess far greater weight;

and, however strong the disposition of the

Government might be (if such an order existed)

to fill it properly, I do not believe that, in the

present state of public opinion respecting science,

it could be done, and, in all probability^ it would i

be filled up through the channels of patronage^

and by mere jobbers in science.

Another proposal, of a similar kind, has also
been talked of, one which it may appear almost
ridiculous to suggest in England, but which
would be considered so in no other country.
It is, to ennoble some of the greatest scientific
benefactors of their country. Not to mention
political causes, the ranks of the nobility are
constantly recruited from the army, the navy,
and the bar ; why should not the family of that
man, whose name is imperishably connected with

ttm

200 UNION OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

the steam-engine, be enrolled aniongst the nobi-
lity of his country ? In utility and profit, riot
merely to that country, but to the human race,
his deeds may proudly claim comparison even
with the most splendid of those achieved by
classes so rich in glorious recollections. An ob-
jection, in most cases fatal to such a course^
arises from the impolicy of conferring a title,
unless a considerable fortune exists to support
it; a circumstance very rarely occurring to the
philosopher. It might in some measure be re-,
moved, by creating such titles only for life.
But here, again, until there existed some know-
ledge of science amongst the higher classes, and
a sound state of public opinion relative to sci-
ence, the execution of the plan could only be

[ injurious.

Section 7.

Of the Union of Scientific Societies.

This idea has occurred to several persons, as
likely to lead to considerable advantages to
science. If the various scientific societies could
unite in the occupation of one large building.

rtl»«M««*AAi

icrmm

UNION OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

201

considerable economy would result from the
union. By properly arranging their evenings of
meeting/ one meeting-room only need be re-
quired. The libraries might either be united^
or arranged in adjoining rooms; and such a
system would greatly facilitate the inquiries of
scientific persons.

Whether it would be possible to reunite in
any way the different societies to the Royal
Society^ might be a delicate question; but al-
though, on some accounts, desirable^ that event
is not necessary for the purpose of their having
a common residence.

The Medico-Botanical Society might, perhaps,
from sympathy, be the first to which the Royal
Society would apply; and by a proper inter-
change of diplomas,* the two societies might
be inoculated with each other. But even here
some tact would be required ; the Medico-
Botanical is a little particular about the purity
of its written documents, and lately attributed
blame to one of its officers for some slight tam-
pering with them, a degree of illiberality which
the Council of the Royal Society are far from
imitating,

* A thing well understood by the initiated^ both at home
and abroad.

{

202 UNION OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

The Geological and the Astronomical Societies
nourish no feelings of resentment to the parent
institution for their early persecution ; and though
they have no inducement to seek, would scarcely
refuse any union which might be generally ad-
vantageous to science.

CONCLUSION.

In a work on the Decline of Science^ at a period
when England has so recently lost two of its
brightest ornaments, I should hardly be excused
if I omitted to devote a few words to the names
of WoUaston and of Davy. Until the warm
feelings of surviving kindred and admiring friends
shall be cold as the grave from which remembrance
vainly recalls their cherished forms, invested
with all the life and energy of recent existence,
the volumes of their biography must be sealed.
Their contemporaries can expect only to read
their 61oge.

In habits of intercourse with both those dis-
tinguished individuals, sufficiently frequent to
mark the curiously different structure of their
minds, I was yet not on such terms even with him
I most esteemed, as to view his great qualities
through that medium which is rarely penetrated
by the eyes of long and very intimate friendship.

Caution and precision were the predominant

* «H.J i —

;

204

CONCLUSION.

features of the character of Wollaston, and those
who are disposed to reduce the number of prin-
ciples^ would perhaps justly trace the precision
which adorned his philosophical^ to the extreme
caution which pervaded his moral character. It
may indeed be questioned whether the latter
quality will not in all persons of great abilities
produce the former.

Ambition constituted a far larger ingredient in
the character of Davy, and vdth the daring hand
of genius he grasped even ' the remotest con-
elusions to which a theory led him. He seemed
to think invention a more common attribute than
it really is, and hastened, as soon as he was in
possession of a new fact or a new principle, to
communicate it to the world, doubtful perhaps
lest he might not be anticipated ; but, confident
in his own powers, he was content to give to
others a chance of reaping some part of that
harvest, the largest portion of which he knew
must still fall to his own share.
\ Dr. WoUaston, on the other hand, appreciated

more truly the rarity of the inventive faculty ;
and, undeterred by the fear of being anticipated,
when he had contrived a new instrument, or
detected a new principle, he brought all the
information that he could collect from others, or

K*—-

CONCLUSION.

205

which arose from his own reflection^ to bear upon
it for years, before he delivered it to the world.

The most singular characteristic of WoUaston's
mind was the plain and distinct line which sepa-
rated what he knew from what he did not know ;
and this again, arising from his precision, might
be traced to caution/

It would, however, have been visible to such
an extent in few except himself, for there were
very few so perfectly free from vanity and affec-
tation. To this circumstance may be attributed
a peculiarity of manner in the mode in which he
communicated information to those who sought
it from him, which was to many extremely dis-
agreeable. He usually, by a few questions, as-
certained precisely how much the inquirer knew
upon the subject, or the exact point at which
his Ignorance commenced, a process not very
agreeable to the vanity of mankind ; taking up
the subject at this point, he would then very
clearly and shortly explain it.

His acquaintance with mathematics was very
limited. Many years since, when I was an un-
successful candidate for a professorship of mathe-
matics, I applied to Dr. W. for a recommendation ;
he declined it, on the ground of its not being his
pursuit. I told him I asked it, because I thought

•i

' ;

206 CONCLUSION.

it would have weight, to which he replied, that
it ought to have none whatever. There is no
doubt his view was the just one. Yet such is
the state of ignorance which exists on these
subjects, that I have several times heard him
mentioned as one of the greatest mathematicians
of the age.* But in this as in all other points,
the precision with which he comprehended and
retained all he had ever learned, especially of the.
elementary applications of mathematics to physics, .
was such, that he possessed greater- command
over those subjects than many of far more exten-
sive knowledge.

In associating with WoUaston, you perceived,
that the predominant principle was to avoid
error ; in the society of Davy, you saw that it
was the desire to see and make known truth.
Wollaston never could have been a poet ; Davy
might have been a great one.

A question which I put, successively, to each of
these distinguished philosophers, will show how
very diflTerently a 'subject may be viewed by minds
even of the highest order.

About the time Mr. Perkins was making his
experiments on the compression of water, I was

* This of course could only have happened in England.

V _

mam^m

CONCLUSION.

207

much struck with the mechanical means he had
brought to hear on the subject, and was specu-
lating on other applications of it, which I will
presently mention.

Meeting Dr. WoUaston one morning in the
shop of a bookseller, I proposed this question :
If two volumes of hydrogen and one of oxygen
are mixed together in a vessel, and if by mecha-
nical pressure they can be so condensed as
to become of the same specific gravity as water,
will the gases under these circumstances unite
and form water ? '' What do you think they will
do ?** said Dr. W. I replied, that I should rather
expect they would unite. *' I see no reason to
suppose it,** said he. I then inquired whether
he thought the experiment worth making. He
answered, that he did not, for that he should
think it would certainly not succeed.

A few days after, I proposed the same question
to Sir Humphry Davy. He at once said, *' they
will become water, of course f and on my in-
quiring whether he thought the experiment
worth making, he observed that it was a good
experiment, but one which it was hardly neces-
sary to make, as it must succeed.

These were off-hand answers, which it might
perhaps be hardly fair to have recorded, had they

208 CONCLUSION.

been of persons of less eminent talent ; and it
adds to the curiosity of the circumstance to
mention, that I believe Dr. Wollaston*s reason
for supposing no union would take place, arose
from the nature of the electrical relations of the
two gases remaining unchanged, an objection
which did not weigh with the philosopher whose
discoveries had given birth to it.

[The result of the experiment appeared, and
still appears to me, to be of the highest im-
portance ; and I will shortly state the views with
which it was connected. The next great dis-
covery in chemistry to definite proportions,
will be to find means of forming all the simple
unions of one atom with one, with two* or
with more of any other substance: and it oc-
curred to me that the gaseous bodies presented
the fairest chance of success ; and that if wishing,
for instance, to unite four atoms of one substance
with one of another, we could, by mechanical
means, reduce the mixed gases to the same spe-
cific gravity as the substance would possess which
resulted from their union, then either that such
union would actually take place, or the particles of
the two substances would be most favourably situ-
ated for the action of caloric, electricity, or other
causes, to produce the combination. It would

•faMM.

— n

CONCLUSION.

209

indeed seem to follow, that if combination should
take place under such circumstances, then the
most probable proportion in which the atoms
would unite, should be that which furnished a
fluid of the least specific gravity : but until the
experiments are made, it is by no means
certain that other combinations might not be
produced.]

The singular minuteness of the particles of
bodies submitted by Dr. WoUaston to chemical
analysis, has excited the admiration of all those
who have had the good fortune to witness his
experiments ; and the methods he employed- de-
serve to be much more widely known.

It appears to me that a great mistake exists
on the subject. It has been adduced as one of
those facts which prove the extraordinary acute-
ness of the bodily senses of the individual, — a
circumstance which, if it were true, would add
but little to his philosophical character; I am,
however, inclined to view it in a far different light,
and to see in it one of the natural results of the
admirable precision of his knowledge.

During the many opportunities I have en-
joyed of seeing his minute experiments, I re-
member but one* instance in which I noticed any

* This was at Mr. South*s observatory, and the object

210 CONXLUSION.

remarkable difference in the acuteness of his
bodily faculties, either of his hearing, his sight,
or of his sense of smell, from those of other per-
sons who possessed them in a good degree. He
never showed me an almost microscopic wire,
which was visible to his, and invisible to my own
eye : even in the beautiful experiments he made
relative to sounds inaudible to certain ears, he
never produced a tone which was unheard by
mine, although sensible to his ear ; and I believe
this will be found to have been the case by most
of those whose minds had been much accustomed
to experimental inquiries, and who possessed
their faculties unimpaired by illness or by age.

It was a much more valuable property on
which . the success of such inquiries depended.
It arose from the perfect attention which he
could command, and the minute precision with
which he examined every object. A striking
illustration of the fact that an object is frequently
not seen, from not knowing how to see it, rather
than from any defect in the organ of vision^
occurred to me some years since, when on a visit
at Slough. Conversing with Mr. Herschel on

was, the dots on the declination circle of his equatorial ;
but, in this instance, Dr. Wollaston did not attempt to
teach me how to see them.

i'ONCIXSlON.

211

the dark lines seen in the solar spectrum by
Fraunhofer, he inquired whether I had seen them ;
and on my replying in the negative, and ex-
pressing a great desire to see them, he mentioned
the extreme difficulty he had had, even with
Fraunhofer*s description in his hand and the long
time which it had cost him in detecting them.
My friend then added, " I will prepare the appa-
ratus, and put you in such a position that they
shall be visible, and yet you shall look for them
and not find them : after which, while you remain
in the same position, I will instruct you how to
see theniy and' you shall see them, and not merely
wonder you did not see them before, but you
shall find it impossible to look at the spectrum
without seeing them.**

On looking as I was directed, notwithstanding
the previous warning, I did not see them ; and
after some time I inquired how they might be
seen, when the prediction of Mr. Herschel was
completely fulfilled.

It was this attention to minute phenomena
which Dr. WoUaston applied with such powerful
effect to chemistry. In the ordinary cases of
precipitation the cloudiness is visible in a single
drop as well as in a gallon of a solution ; and in
those cases where the cloudiness is so slight, as

p 2

212 CONCLUSION.

to require a mass of fluid to render it visible,
previous evaporation, quickly performed on slips
of window glass, rendered the solution more con-
centrated.

The true value of this minute chemistry arises
from its cheapness and the extreme rapidity with
which it can be accomplished : it may, in hands j

• like those of Wollaston, be used for discovery,
but not for measure. I have thought it more
necessary to place this subject on what I consider
its true grounds, for two reasons. In the first
place, I feel that injustice has been done to a
dbtinguished philosopher in attributing to some
of his bodily senses that excellence which I think
is proved to have depended on the admirable
training of* his intellectual faculties. And, in
the next place, if I have established the fact,
whilst it affords us better means of judging of
such observations as lay claim to an accuracy .
'' more tlian human," it also opens, to the patient
inquirer into truth, a path by which he may
acquire powers that he would otherwise have
thought were only the gift of nature to a fa-
voured few.

APPENDIX, No. 1.

In presenting to my readers the account of the
meeting of men of science at Berlin, in the autumn of
1828, I am happy to be able to state, that its influence
has been most beneficial, and that the annual meeting
to be held in 1831, will take place at Vienna, the
Emperor of Austria having expressed a wish that every
facility which his capital affords should be given to
promote its objects.

It is gratifying to find that a country, which has
hitherto been considered adverse to the progress of
knowledge, should become convinced of its value ; and
it is sincerely to be hoped, that every one of the nume-
rous members of the Society will show, by his conduct,
that the paths of science are less likely than any others
to interfere with those of politics.

Account of the great Congress of Philosophers at BerUn, on
the ISth of September^ 1828. From the Edinburgh Jour-
nal of Science, April, 1829.

The existence of a large society of cultivators of the natural
sciences meeting annually at some great capital, or some

214 APPENDIX.

central town of Europe, is a circumstance almost unknown to
us, and deserving of our attention, from the important ad-
van ta^res which mav arise from it.

About eight years ago. Dr. Okens, of Munich, suggested
a plan for an annual meeting of all Germans who cultivated
the sciences of medicine and botany. The first meeting, of
about forty members, took place at Leipsic, in 1825, and it
was successively held at Halle, Wurtzburg, Frankfort on the
Maine, Dresden, Munich, and Berlin. All those who had
printed a certain number of sheets of their inquiries on
these subjects were considered members of this academy.

The great advantages which resulted to these sciences
from the communication of observations from all quarters
of Germany, soon induced an extension of the plan, and
other departments of natural knowledge were admitted,
until, at the last meeting, the cultivators even of pure ma-
thematics were found amongst the ranks of this academy.

Several circumstances, independent of the form and con-
stitution of the academy, contributed to give unwonted
splendour to the last meeting, which took place at Berlin in
the middle of September of the last year.

The capital selected for its temporary residence is scarcely
surpassed by any in Europe in the number and celebrity of
its savans.

The taste for knowledge possessed by the reigning family,
has made knowledge itself fashionable ; and the severe
sufferings of the Prussians previous to the war, by which
themselves and Europe were freed, have impressed on them
so strongly the lesson that " knowledge is power," that its
effects are visible in every department of the government ;
and there is no country in Europe in which talents and
genius so surely open for their possessors the road to wealth
and distinction.

Another circumstance also contributed its portion to ni-
crease the numbers of the meeting of the past year. The
office of president, which is annually changed, was assigned
to M. Alexander de Humboldt. The universality of hb

•"H

APPENDIX.

215

acquirements, which have left no branch within the wide
range of science indifferent or unexplored, has connected
him by friendship with almost all the most celebrated plii-
losophers of the age ; whilst the polished amenity of his
manners, and that intense desire of acquiring and of spread-
ing knowledge, which so peculiarly characterizes his mind,
renders him accessible to all strangers, and insures for them
the assistance of his counsel in their scientific pursuits, and
the advantage of being made known to all those who are
interested or occupied in similar inquiries.

Professor Lichtenstein, (Director of the Museum of Zoo-
logy*) fts secretary of the academy, was indefatigable in his
attentions, and most ably seconded the wishes of its distin-
guished president.

These two gentlemen, assisted by several of tlie residents
at Berlin, undertook the numerous preliminary arrangements
necessary for the accommodation of the meeting.

On the 18th of September, 1828, there were assembled at
Berlin 877 members of the academy, whose names and
residences (in Berlin) were priiited in a small pamphlet, and
to each name was attached a number, to indicate his seat in
the great concert room, in which the morning meetings took
place. Each member was also provided with an engraved
card of the hall of meeting, on which the numbers of the
seats were printed in black ink, and his ovni peculiar seat
marked in red ink, so that every person immediately found
his own place, and knew where to look for any friend whom
he might wish to find.

At the hour appointed for the opening of the meeting,
the members being assembled, and the galleries and or-
chestra being filled by an assemblage of a large part of
the rank and beauty of the capital, and the side-boxes being
occupied by several branches of the royal family, and by the
foreign ambassadors, the session of the academy was opened
by the eloquent address of the president.

216 APPENDIX.

Speech made at the Opening of the Society of German Natu-
ralists and Natural Philosophers at Berlin, the 18th of
September, 1828. By Alexander Von Hcmboldt.

Since through your choice, which does me so much ho-
nour, I am permitted to open this meeting, the first duty
which I have to discharge is one of gratitude. The dis-
tinction which has been conferred on him who has never yet
been able to attend your excellent society, is not the reward
of scientific efforts, or of feeble and persevering attempts to
discover new phenomena, or to draw the light of knowledge
from the unexplored depths of nature. A finer feeling,
however, directed vour attention to me. You have assured
me, that while, during an absence of many years, and in a
distant quarter of the globe, I was labouring in the same
cause with yourselves, I was not a stranger in your thoughts*
You have likewise greeted my return home, that, by the
sacred tie of gratitude, you might bind me still longer and
closer to our common countrv.

What, however, can the picture of this, our native land'
present more agreeable to the mind, than the assembly which
we receive to-day for the first tune within our walls; from
the banks of the Neckar, the birth-place of Kepler and of
Schiller, to the remotest border of the Baltic plains ; firom
hence to the mouths of the Rhine, where, under the benefi-
cent influence of commerce, .the treasuries of exotic nature
have for centuries been collected and investigated, the friends
of nature, inspired with the same zeal, and, urged by the
same passion, flock together to this assembly. Everywhere,
where the German language is used, and its peculiar struc-
ture aflects the spirit and disposition of the people. From
the Great European Alps, to the other side of the Weichsel,
where, in the country of Copernicus, astronomy rose to
renewed splendour ; everywhere in the extensive domi-
nions of the German nation we attempt to discover the secret
operations of nature, whether in the heavens, or in the

:■■*•

APPENDIX.

217

deepest problems of mechanics, or in the interior of the earth,
or in the finely woven tissues of organic structure.

Protected by noble princes, this assembly has annually
increased in interest and extent. Every distinction which
difierence of religion or form of government can occasion is
here annulled. Germany manifests itself as it were in its
intellectual unity ; and since knowledge of truth and per-
formance of duty are the highest object of morality, that
feeling of unity weakens none of the bonds which the religion,
constitution, and laws of our country, have rendered dear to
each of us. Even this emulation in mental struggles has
called forth (as the glorious history of our country tells us,)
the fairest blossoms of humanity, science, and art.

The assembly of German naturalists and natural philo-
sophers since its last meeting, when it was so hospitably
received at Munich, has, through the flattering interest of
neighbouring states and academies, shone with peculiar
lustre. Allied nations have renewed the ancient alliance
between Germany and the ancient Scandinavian North.

Such an interest deserves acknowledgment the more, be-
cause it unexpectedly increases the mass of facts and opi-
nions which are here brought into one common and useful
union. It also recalls lofty recollections into the mind of the
naturalist* Scarcely half a century has elapsed since Linn6
appears, in the boldness of the undertakings which he has
attempted and accomplished, as one of the greatest men of
the last centur}% His glory, however bright, has not ren-
dered Europe blind to the merits of Scheele and Bergman.
The catalogue of these great names is not completed ; but
lest I shall ofiend noble modesty, I dare not speak of the light
which is stOl flowing in richest profusion from the North,
nor mention the discoveries in the chemical nature of sub-
stances, in the numerical relation of their elements, or the
eddying streams of electro-magnetic powers.* May those
excellent persons, who, deterred neither by perils of sea or

* The {•hilosophcrs here rclVrrcd to are Berzelius and Oersted.

218 APPKNmx.

land, have hastened to our meeting from Sweden, Norway,
Denmark, Holland, England, and Poland, point out the way
to other strangers in succeeding years, so that by turns
every part of Germany may enjoy the effects of scientific
communication with the different nations of Europe.

But although I must restrain the expression of my per-
sonal feelings in presence of this assembly, I must be per-
mitted at least to name the patriarchs of our national glory,
who are detained from us by a regard for those lives so dear
to their country ; — Goethe, whom the great creations of
poetical fancy have not prevented from penetrating the arcana
of nature, and who now in rural solitude mourns for his
princely friend, as Germany for one of her greatest orna-
ments; — Olbers, who has discovered two bodies where he
had already predicted they were to be found ; — the greatest
anatomists of our age— Soemmering, whoi with equal zeal,
has investigated the wonders of organic structure, and the
spots and faculce of the sun, (condensations and openings
of the photosphere ;) Blumenbach, whose pupil I have the
honour to be, who, by his works and his immortal eloquence,
has inspired everywhere a love of comparative anatomy,
physiology, and the general history of nature, and who has
laboured diligently for half a century. How could I resist
the temptation to adorn my discourse with names which
posterity will repeat, as we are not favoured with tlieir
presence ?

These observations on the literary wealth of our native
country, and the progressive developement of our institution,
lead us naturally to the obstructions which will arise from
the increasing number of our fellow-labourers. The chief
object of this assembly does not consist, as in other societies
whose sphere is more limited, in the mutual interchange of
treatises, or in innumerable memoirs, destined to be printed
in some general collection. The principal object of this
Society is, to bring those personally together who are en-
gaged in the same field of science. It is the immediate, and
therefore more obvious interchange of ideas, whether they

APPENDIX.

219

present themselves as facts, opinions, or doubts. It is the
foundation of friendly connexion which throws light on
science, adds cheerfulness to life, and gives patience and
amenity to the manners.

In the most flourishing period of ancient Greece, the dis-
tinction between words and writing first manifested itself
most strongly amongst a race, which had raised itself to the
most splendid intellectual superiority, and to whose latest
descendants, as preserved from the shipwreck of nations, we
still consecrate our most anxious wishes. It was not the
difficulty of interchange of ideas alone, nor the want of Ger-
man science, which has spread thought as on wings through
the world, and insured it a long continuance, that then
induced the friends of philosophy and natural history in
Magna Graecia and Asia Minor to wander on long journeys.
That ancient race knew the inspiring influence of conver-
sation as it extemporaneously, freely, and prudently pene-
trates the tissue of scientific opinions and doubts. The
discovery of the truth without difference of opinion is unat-
tainable, because the truth, in its greatest extent, can never
be recognized by all, and at the same time. Each step,
which seems to bring the explorer of nature nearer to his
object, only carries him to the threshold of new labyrinths.
The mass of doubt does not diminish, but spreads like a
moving cloud over other and new fields ; and whoever has
called that a golden period, when difference of opinions, or,
as some are accustomed to express it, the disputes of the
learned, will be finished, has as imperfect a conception of the
wants of science, and of its continued advancement, as a
person who expects that the same opinions in geognosy,
chemistry, or physiology, will be maintained for several cen-
turies.

The founders of this society, with a deep sense of the
unity of nature, have combined in the completest manner,
all the branches of physical knowledge, and the historical,
geometric.ll, and experimental philosophy. The names of
natural historian and natural philosopher are here, therefore.

220 APPENDIX.

nearly s3monin)ous, chained by a terrestrial link to the type
of the lower animals. Man completes the scale of higher
organization. In his physiological and pathological qua-
lities, he scarcely presents to us a distinct class of beings.
As to what has brought him to this exalted object of phy-
sical study, and has raised him to general scientific inves-
tigation, belongs principally to this society. Important as
it is not to break that link which embraces equally the inves-
tigation of organic and inorganic nature, still the increasing
ties and daily developement of this institution renders it
necessary, besides the general meeting which is destined for
these halls, to have specific meetings for single branches of
science. For it is only in such contracted circles, — it is only
among men whom reciprocity of studies has brought toge-
ther, that verbal discussions can take place. Without this
sort of communication, would the voluntary association of
men in search of truth be deprived of an inspiring principle.

Among the preparations which are made in this city for
the advancement of the society, attention has been prin-
cipally paid to the possibility of such a subdivision into
sections. The hope that these preparations will meet with
your approbation, imposes upon me the duty of reminding
you, that, although you had entrusted to two travellers,
equally, the duty of making these arrangements, yet it is to
one alone, my noble friend, M. Lichtenstein, that the merit
of careful precaution and indefatigable activity is due. Out
of respect to the scientific spirit which animates the Society
of German Naturalists and Natural Philosophy, and in
acknowledgment of the utility of their efibrts, government
have seconded all our wishes with the greatest cheerfulness.

In the vicinity of the place of meeting, which has in this
manner been prepared for our general and special labours,
are situated the museums dedicated to anatomy, zoology,
oryctognosy, and geology. They exhibit to the naturah'st a
rich mine for observation and critical discussion. The
greater number of these well-arranged collections have
existed, like the University of Berlin, scarcely twenty years.

APPENDIX.

221

The oldest of tliem, to which the Botanical Garden, (one of
the richest in Europe) belongs, have during this period not
only been increased, but entirely remodelled. The amuse-
ment and instruction derived from such institutions, call to
our minds, with deep feelings of gratitude, that they are the
work of that great monarch, who modestly and in simple
grandeur, adorns every year this royal city with new trea-
sures of nature and art ; and what is of still greater value
than the treasures themselves, —what inspires every Prussian
with youthful strength, and with an enthusiastic love for
the ancient reigning family, — that he graciously attaches to
himself every species of talent, and extends with confidence
his royal protection to the free cultivation of the under-
standing.

This was followed by a paper on magnetism, by Professor
Oersted ; and several other memoirs were then read.

The arrival of so many persons of similar pursuit, (for 464
members were present,) rendered it convenient to have some
ordinary, at which those who chose might dine, and intro-
duce their friends or families. This had been foreseen, and
his Majesty had condescended to allow the immense build-
ing used for the exercise of his troops, to be employed for
this purpose. One- third of it was floored on the occasion t
and tables were arranged, at which, on one occasion, 850
persons sat down to dinner. On the evening of the first
day, M. de Humboldt gave a large soirSe in the concert
rooms attached to the theatre. About 1 200 persons assem-
bled on this occasion, and his Majesty the King of Prussia
honoured with his presence the fite of his illustrious cham-
berlain. The nobility of the country, foreign princes, and
foreign ambassadors, were present. It was gratifying to
observe the princes of the blood mingling with the culti-
vators of science, and to see the heir-apparent to the throne,
during the course of the evening, engaged in conversation
with those most celebrated for their talents, of his own, or
of other countries.

[

(

222 APPKXDIX.

Nor were tlie minor arrangements of the evening beneath
the consideration of the President. The words of the music
selected for the concert, were printed and distributed to the
visitors. The names of the most illustrious philosophers
which Germany had produced, were inscribed in letters of
gold at the end of the great concert room.

In the first rank amongst these stood a name which,
England, too, enrolls amongst the brightest in her scientific
annals ; and proud, as well she may be, of having fostered
and brought to maturity the genius of the first Herschel, she
has reaped an ample reward in being able to claim as entirely
her own, the inhetltor of his talents and his name.

The six succeeding days were occupied, in the morning, by
a meeting of the academy, at which papers of general interest
were read. In the afternoon, through the arrangement of
M. de Humboldt and M. Lichtenstein, various rooms were
appropriated for difierent sections of the academy. In one,
the chemical philosophers attended to some chemical me-
moir, whilst the botanists assembled in another room, the
physiologists in a third, and the natural philosophers in a
fourth. Each attended to the reading of papers connected
with their several sciences. Thus every member was at
liberty to choose that section in which he felt most interest
at the moment, and he had at all times power of access to
the others. The evenings were generally spent at some
of the soirees of the savans, resident at Berlin, whose hos-
pitality and attentions to their learned brethren of other
countries were unbounded. During the unoccupied hours
of the morning, the collections of natural history, which are
rapidly rising into importance, were open to examination ;
and the various professors and directors who assisted the
stranger in his inquiries, lefl him equally gratified by the
knowledge and urbanity of those who so kindly aided him.

A map of Europe was printed, on which those towns only
appeared which had sent representatives to this scientific
congress; and the numbers sent by different kingdoms
appeared by the following table, which was attached to it : —

APPENDIX.

223

Russia 1

Austria

England 1

Holland 2

Denmark 7

France 1

Sardinia

Prussia 95

Bavaria 12

Hanover 5

Saxony SI

Wirtemburg .... 2

Sweden Id

Naples 1

Poland 3

German States ... 43

206
Berlin • . .172

S7S

The proportion in which the cultivators of different
sciences appeared, was not easy to ascertain, because there
were few amongst the more eminent who had not added to
more than one branch of human knowledge. The following
table, though not professing to be very accurate, will aflTord*
perhaps, a tolerably fair view :-» .

Geometers • . .11
Astronomers • . 5
Natural Philosophers 23

Mines 5

Mineralogy . • .16
Geology • • . • 9

— 30
Chemistry ... 18
Geography ... 8

Anatomy . .

. .

Zoology . . .

. 14

Natural History

. 8

Botany . . •

. 35

—

Physicians . •

• •

175

Amateurs . •

• •

Various . .

• •

381

A medal was struck in commemoration of this meeting,
and it was proposed that it should form the first of a series,
which should comprise all those persons most celebrated for
their scientific discoveries in the past and present age.

APPENDIX, No. 2.

Ak examination into sorae charges brought against one
of the twenty-four candidates, mentioned in a note as
having their names suspended in the meeting-room of the
Royal Society, at one time, has caused a printed pamphlet
to be circulated amongst the members of the Society. Of
the charges themselves I shall offer no opinion, but entreat
every member to judge 'for himself. I shall, however,
make one extract, which tends to show how the ranks of
the Society are recruited.

Extract from a printed Letter from A. F. M, to /. G, ChU»
dretifEsq, dated, 22, Upper Bedford-place, March 13, 1830.

CI
CI
CI
CC

cc
cc
cc
cc
cc

" When I wished you to propose me at the Geological
Society, you asked me why you should not propose me
also at the Royal Society ; and my answer was, that it was
an honour to which I did not think I could aspire ; that
my talents were too insignificant to warrant such preten-
sions. Many days passed, and still you pressed me on the
subject, because your partiality made you think me de-
serving of the honour; but I resisted, really through
modesty, not that I did not covet the distinction, until
something was said of my paper on the meteoric mass of
iron of Brazil, which was published some years ago in the
Transactions of the Royal Society; when you insisted on
proposing me, and I assented gratefully, because I was

APPENDIX.

225

*' and am desirous of being a Fellow of the Royal Society,
" if I can be supposed worthy of having my name so ho-
" nourablv enrolled."

Extract from a Letter of J. O. Children^ Esq. to A. F. M.
Esq, dated^ British Museum^ March 24, 1880.

'' All that you have said respecting your being a can-
*' didatc for admission into the Royal Society, is correct to
the letter. I pressed the subject upon you, and I would
do it again to-morrow, were it necessary."

«i

Here, then, we find Mr. Children, who has been on the
Council of the Royal Society, and who was, a few years
since, one of its Secretaries, pressing one of his friends to
become, and actually insisting on proposing him as, a Fellow
of the Royal Society. He must have been well aware
of the feelings which prevail amongst the Council as to the
propriety of such a step, and by publishing the fact, seems
quite satisfied that such a course is advantageous to the
interests of the Society. That similar applications were not
unfirequendy made in private, is well known ; but it re-
mains for the Society to consider whether, . now they are
publicly and ofiicially announced to them, it wQl sanction
this mode of augmenting the already numerous list of its
fellows.

APPENDIX, No. 3.

LIST OF THE MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY,

mlribuled lo the Philosophical Trantaelitms, or h
been on the Couneit,

H-

Abetdeen, EIbtI of.

Browne, Henry.

Abemethv, John.

Brown, Robert

Allan, Tiionias.

Brownioiv, EarL

Allen, WiUmm.
Ardeii, Lord.
AthoD, Duke of.

1
1

Buckland, Rev. W. C.
Burner, Re-v. C, Parr.
Caiilerbury, Archbp. of.

2
1

Babbage, Chailei.
Bobiuglon, WiUism.

Carew, Rl Hon. R. V.

Carlisle, Sir Anthony.

Baily, Francis.
■Barlow, Peter. C.

Carlisle, Nicholas.

Came, Joseph.

Barnard, Sir F.Aupwta.

Carrington, Sir C. E.

BarTaiT, John.

Charlerille, Earl of.

Bauer, FmnciB.

Chenei-ijc, Richard. C.

Bayley, John.
Beaufort, Francis.

Cliildren, John George.

Christie, Sam. Hunter.

BeaufoT, Hcnrr.

Ocrk, Sir George.

Bell, CUrles. '

Gift, William.

BiDgley, Robert.

Hoyne, Bishop of. C.
Colby, Colonel Thomai.

Blockbtime. John.

Blake, IVilliam.

Coletrooke, Henrv T.

Bkne, Sir Gilbert

Cooper, Sir Aslley P. C.
Cricliton, Sir Alei.

Blizard, Sir WiUiam.

Boslock, John.

Croker, JohnWUson.

Brande, Wni. Thos. C.

Cullum, Sir T. Gery.

Breivitur, Derid. C.

Dalton, John.

Bro.;ic, B. Collins. C.
Bromhead. Sir E. F.

Damley, Ear! o£

Dnn>nn, Roliert Waring.

Davis, John Francis.

•It It

Davy, Edmund.

Howard, Luke.

Dacy, John.

Hume, Sir Abraham.

Dvllwb, Lewis Weston.
Dolbnd, Gcowe.

3
1

Ivorj', Jamei. C.
Jekjil, Joseph.

Dudley and Ward, Vise.

Johnson, Jas. Rawlins.

Enrle, Henry.

Kaier, CnpL Henry. C.

Eercmont, Earl of.

Kidd, John.

Fallows, Rev. Fearoa.

Knight, Thomas A. C.
Kiidg, Cbades-

Faraday, Micliacl.

Famboroiigh, Lord.

Lambert, Aylmer B.

Fisher, Rev. George.

Lansdowne, Marquii of.

Fly, Rev. Henry.

Latham, John.

Foster, Henry.

Fninkland, Sir Thomas.

Lax, Rev. William.

Leach, Willinm Elford.

Gibbe*. Sir Geo. Smith.

Lowther, Viscount.

Gilbert, Daviei.

Macartney, James.
Maedonnfd. LieuL CoL

Gillies, John.

Goldingham, John.

Mac Grigor, Sir James.

Gompcrli, fienjamin.
Goodenough, George T.
Gordon, Sir James V.

Mac Leav, ^Uexonder.

Mansfield. Earl at

.Marsden, William.

Granville, Augustiu K

Mathias. Tliomas Jaa.

Greaiorex, Thomas.

Maton, William George.

Grecuougli, Geo. Bellas.

Miller, Lieut. Col. G.

Griffiths, John.

Groombridge, Stephen.
Halford, SirHenrr.

Mot^an, William.
Mount EJgccmuhc,

HaU, Basil.

Earl of.

Hnmaion, Wm. Rich.

Murdoch, Thomas.

Hardwicke, Earl of.

Nicholl, Rt. Hod. Sir J.

2
1

Hanev, George.
Hnrnood, T.

1
3

Norfolk, Duke of.
Ord, Craven.

Hatchetl, Charles. C.
Hawkins, John.

Parry. Oiarles Henty.
Pepys, Sir Lucas.

Heberden. William.

Pepys, Wm. Haslcdine.
Philip, A. P. Wilson.
Phillips, Richard.
Pitt, M'illiam Morton.

HeUiw, Rev. John. C.

Henley, Morton Lord.

Henn-, William. C.

Her8^Iiel,J<.hnF.W. C.

Planla, Joseph.

Hoaie, Henrv Hugh

Hoare,SirRicharfColt.

Pond, John. C.

Powell, Rey. Baden.

Hobhoiwe, Sir Benj.

Prinsep. James.

HoUand, Henn-.

Prout, Wiliiam.

10910

Home, Sir Eveinrd. C.

Hope, Thomas Charles.

1
1

Rackett, Rev. 'Iliomas.
Redesdale, Lord.

Hoaack, Darid.

Reeves, John.

Horshurgh, James.

Rennell, James. C.

APPENDIX.

Rennie, George.

Slaunlon, Sir Geo. Tho*,

4
1

Ritchie,

Robert son, James.

Rogcre, Bimiiiei.

2
1

S to well, Lord-
Sumner, George Holme.
Thomai, Honoratus L.

Ro-el, Peter Mart

Tiiomson, Thomai.

Rudge, Ediiarii.

Tiarks, Dr. John Lewia.

Sabine, Edward. C.

Troughton, Edward. C.

Sabine, Joseph.

St. Auhyn, SirJohn. *

Ure, Andrew.

Warbtirton, Henry,

ScoresW, jun. William.
Scott, John Corse.

Weaver, Thomsi,

^Vhewell, WaUam.

Seppbgi, Sir Robert. C.

^VTiidhey. Joseph.

SeweU, Sir John.

WUkiai, Charl^.

WiUiams, John Lloyd,

Solheby, WillUm.

Wilson, Sir Giffin.

South, James. C.

Wilson, Gloucester.

Spencer, Earl.

Yorke, Bt Hon. Cha«.

Stanley, Sir John Thoa.

I had intended to have printed a list of those persons to
whom the Royal Society had in past years awarded the
Copley medals, and the reasons for which they were
given i hut having applied to the Coundl for permis-
sion to employ an amaDuensis, to copy those awards,
either from the minutes, or from the volumes of the Phi-
losophical Transactions, I was surprised at receiving a
refusal. I confess it appeared to me, that as a whole,
those adjudications did us credit, although I doubted the
propriety of many individiul cases. As, however, the
Council seem to have had a different opinion, and as I
had made the application through courtesy, I shall decline
printing a list, every individual portion of which has heen
already published in many ways, although the whole has
never been printed in a collected form.

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]

•4

ON THE ALLEGED

DECLINE OF SCIENCE IN ENGLAND

BT A FOREIQXER.

Therr is a principle in human nature ivhich prompts almost
every individual to consider his own nation as evidently equal,
if not superior, to any other. No people, however insignificant,
but what has its heroes and its sages, who, in the opinion of
their own countrymen, far surpass the boast and pride of other
nations. Alike in military prowess and the acquirement of
science, in the pursuit of knowledge and the highest flight of
art, each nation asserts its claims to superiority with unshaken
faith and stubborn obstinacy.

On the contrar}', a private individual, however highly en-
dowed with genius and learning, and although perfectly con-
scious of his own powers, will in general have enough of that
discretion which is inculcated by the habits of society, to pre*
vent him from openly declaring himself unrivalled in his
department. Men like La Place, La Grange, Euler, and the
like, take care to conceal at least part of the good opinion
which they have of themselves. But if not our own person,
but the nation is concerned, very few will hesitate to proclaim
their own as unquestionably deserving the palm. In this we
are in general borne out by the bulk of our countr}'men ; whilst
we may rest assured of meeting with ten times as many con-
tradictors amongst the natives of other countries. The vanity,
pride, and self-love inherent in our species, are the causes of
this propensity of extolling to the skies what little good we
may discover amongst our nearest neighbours, whilst we evince
in general an equal disposition to undervalue and treat with
contempt whatever is the product of science in a country
se[*arated perhaps from our own by a range of mountains or a

branch of the sea. These mutual and very absurd pretensions

•!» mt t N ^»MI m^^*.^w -m~ ^•— «

2 ON rilK ALLEGED DECLINE OF

very often form protracted animosity between neighbouring
nations; and these quarrels, for being unattended with blood-
shed, are nevertheless carried on with the same acrimony and
bitterness as those great international quarrels in which kings
are parties and cannon supply the arguments. A striking
instance of such a literary warfare was exhibited in the pro-
tracted and bitter contest between England and Germany
about the honour of the invention of the fluxionary calculus.
But many other instances of similar litigations about the
scientific point (Phonneur might be adduced ; and very lately
we had the example of a French philosopher denying to the
English nation, to the countrjmen of Watt and Maudsley,
almost every share in the invention of the steam-engine *.

At present, however, a disposition entirely different is ob-
servable amongst some of the most scientific men of England.
They appear bent upon under\'aluing their own country, and
seem to take a secret, and certainly a strange delight in extol-
ling to the skies the scientific excellence of foreigners of every
description.

An English mathematician of the first order, one of those
on whom his country might look with confidence as a strong
supporter of her scientific fame, a professor in an English
University, informs the public that England has been foiled in
the general struggle for scientific renown ; that, whilst science
is in a prosperous state in foreign countries, it is actually
declining in England. Satisfied with this assertion, at which
many are startled, he does not seem over anxious for the
proof of his proposition, but shows a great inclination to
take it for granted, that England is actually far behind her
more fortunate rivals. A person, certainly of the highest
scientific authority, came to the sad conclusion^ * that there
' cannot be apprehended much doubt as to the fact of the de-
' cline of science in England ;' and Mr* Babbage never seems
to question for a moment the correctness of an assertion^ made
perhaps in an hour of spleen and dissatisfaction, but unsup-
ported by proof. Rather than compare the relative state of
science iu England and other countries, and thus to examine
the truth of the general proposition, Mr. Babbage prefers to

* Sur les Machine! I Vapeur, par M. Arago, AnDuain; du Bureau des Longitudes,
1829, p. 143.

SCIKKCK IN ENGLAND. 3

point out the causes of this disgraceful event, and to suggest
the remedies likely, in his opinion, to effect its cure.

But before we can follow ^Ir. Bubbage in his long list of
complaints, we must pause a moment in the consideration of
the assertion, that • science is declining in England.' This
harsh sentence, however, admits of several interpretations, and
, Mr. Babbage has not informed us which is that which he
adopts. Is it his opinion that science is stationary in England,
whilst it is making rapid strides on the Continent ? or does he
wish to give to understand, that really a retrograde motion
takes place in England ; and that although, upon the w*hoIe«
science is more widely diffused at present in England than
formerly, there is a lack of scientific men of the first emi-
nence able to be put upon a par with the most renowned
foreigners?

Mr. Babbage must excuse me for believing, that it is not
sufficient thus confidently to assert the inferiority of his own
country ; he ought, in my opinion at least, to have pointed
out distinctly where that inferiority exists. Are only some
branches of science afiected, or does it spread widely over all
the departments of human knowledge ? It may be that Eng-
land should be found deficient in some particular instance*
whilst in others, perhaps, it far surpasses other nations. The
scale of merit ought to be carefully handled to determine with
accuracy to which side the balance is leaning. But if the
real meaning of Mr. Babbage on a question in which the
national honour is so deeply involved, is labouring under an
obscurity which we have no means to dispel, we may attempt
at least to canvass the authority by which he supports his
opinion.

The names of Sir Humphry Davy and of Mr. Herschel are

of course of the highest authority ; but it i^ould appear rather

strange that any one should attempt to couple those names

with a complaint of a decay of science. This sounds pretty

much as if, when speaking of Wellington and Nelson, one

would argue on the inferiority of the British army and ua\7.

The mere mentioning of the names of Davy and Herschel

could furnish a proof that science was flourishing in that

country which gave birth to these highly gifted individuals.

An author, whose name is not given, a writer in the Ency-

B 2

ON THE alli:ci:d decline of

clopsdia Metropolitana, is adduced by Mr. Babbage'*' in proof
of the inferiority of chemistry in England ; but I cannot attach
such a meaning to the words given by Mr. Babbage. That
author says, * that since the discoveries of M. Oerstadt, che-
mistry has suffered some neglect in consequence of them.'
The meaning of this seems, that since Oerstadt's discoveries,
chemists have, for a while, directed their attention principally
to objects at once new, curious, and interesting ; and that, in
the mean while, the ordinary pursuits of chemistry have been
somewhat neglected. In the first instance, the argument does
not afiect the English chemists more than those of any other j

country. If chemists committed an error in repeating, ex-
tending, and improving M. Oerstfidt's experiments, which I
beg leave most positively to deny, it was an error common to
the chemists and philosophers of all Europe, and not at all
peculiar to England. When Franklin published his celebrated
researches, every philosopher turned electrician ; when La-
voisier was in his full glory, natural philosophy was neglected
in France for chemistry. In general, when an important dis- ^

covery is made, it is certain that it will excite universal atten- a

tion. But let us suppose that English chemists had acted
otherwise ; that they continued their wonted labours, without
suflTering themselves to be distracted by the importance and
novelty of the discoveries of M. Oerst&dt and his followers ; ,

might such indifference not have been made the subject of
bitter reproach, and would it not have been said, ^ that whole
' branches of Continjental discoveries were unstudied, and in-
' deed almost unknown even by name "I*? ' But no : such was I

not the conduct of the English philosophers ; they nobly '

enjoyed their share of the splendid train of discoveries. But
what seems more strange, and what appears to redound greatly
to the honour of English chemists, is, that nowhere, except in
England, chemists took a leading part in these new investiga-
tions. Will the Encyclopaedist blame Dr. Wollaston and Mr.
Faraday for their discoveries in electro-magnetism? But
neither M. Arago, M. Ampere, nor Mr. Barlow are chemists;
and amongst the first promoters of electro-magnetism we do
not find Berzelius, Thenard, Gay Lussac, and other chemists.
It does not a})pear that the objection against the English on

♦ P.vi. t P^>".

SCIENCE IN ENGLAND. 5

account of tlieir part in electro-magnetic researches appears
well founded, and least of all it proves ' the decline of che-
mistry ' in that country.

Sir Humphrj* Davy^s remark, * that the aristocracy may be
searched in vain for philosophers/ may be very just ; and it
is indeed to be lamented that noblemen, as the Earl of Mac-
clesfield and the late Duke of Marlborough, do not find many
imitators amongst the English nobility. But from the supine-
> ness of (he English peerage in the cause of science, it follows

not that science is declining in England, unless it could be
shown that the same reproach attaches to other classes of
society* Nor do we find, indeed, that in general the nobility
of any country has been much attached to scientific distinc-
tion. Perhaps the cause of this neglect may be traced to the
circumstance, that individuals moving in those higher spheres
of society may obtain those distinctions which are objects of
honest ambition at a more easy rate than by labouring in the
field of science. Men like Alphonsus of Castile, the Land-
grave William of Hesse, the Duke Ernest of Saxe Gotha, are
always of rare occurrence; and in this respect England may
cherish with pride the memorj- of the illustrious patron of Sir
William Herschel. In a degree below sovereignty, the annals
of science do not teem with instances of men like the Marquis
de THdpital, Lord Bacon, and Baron Napier. But although
we should be compelled to allow that the higher ranks of
nobility, all over Europe, may be at present • searched in vain
for philosophers,* still it must not be forgotten that the first
poet of the age rose to such literary eminence from a seat in
the British liouse of Lords.

That * few persons pursue science with true dignity ♦,* is an
observation which, if true, is applicable not only to England,
but to all Europe. Small, indeed, in England as well as else-
where, is the number of those favourites of fortune who may
pursue a scientific career without regard to pecuniary consi-
derations. Dire necessity, in these days of disj:tress, and taxa-
tion, and reform, compels every one, more or less, to remember
the adage,

O cives, cives ! quercnda pecunia primum est,

\'irtus po»t nunimos.
/

* P. vii.

b ON THE ALLEULD DECLINE OF

And many an honest parent may but too justly apply to hia
son —

S»pe pater dixit, stiidiuro quid inutile tentas ?
Maconides nullas ipse reliquit opes.

It has been so always, and probably vrill remain so for some
ages to come* It has been said, in the days of yore, with
some truth —

Dat Galenas opes, dat Justinianus honores.

Pauper Aristoteles cogitur ire pedes. ' %

But in all this lies not the shadow of an argument supporting
the present ' decline of science in England.'

The praise given by Mr. Herschel to the * Annales de
Chimie et de Physique,* is undoubtedly well desened ♦, and -,

many of the reports on scientific matters coming before the
French Institute are certainly masterpieces in their kind. t

Still it may be justly doubted, whether evenhanded justice |

always presides at the redaction of French journals* It has ^ ;

long been a favourite maxim i\-ith French savans —

Kul Q^aura de I'esprit, bors nous ct nos amis.

Those who resided lone; in Paris, and know how scientific
matters are managed there, cannot doubt for a second, that if
persons like Sir James South and Mr. Herschel were to arise
from the seats of the French Institute, but that matters would
be brought to light scarcely less unpleasant than those which
now so unfortunately divide the Royal Society of London*

Mr. Herschel deals harshly with the scientific publications 4 \

of his own country. It must not be forgotten that France,
with her thirty-two millions of inhabitants, has but readers for
one single philosophic journal, which of course has the choice
of all the papers which are ofiered. The twenty-three millions
of inhabitants of England furnish a sufficient quantity of
readers for a far greater number of philosophic quarterly and
monthly publications; and I will venture to affirm, against
Mr. HerscheU that many of the numbers of the Quarterly and
Edinburgh Journals, the Philosophical Magazine, and Pro-
fessor Jameson's Journal, contain articles as well written and
as interesting as those which fill the pages of Messrs. Arago's
nnd G«iY Lussac's publication. If Mr. Herschel and some of

* P. vii.

'W^

8CIBNCR IN ENGLAND. 7

his friends have such a poor opinion of the English scientific
journals, a different judgment is entertained abroad, as is well
proved by the eagerness with which the German journalists
seize upon every article issuing from the presses of their
British colleagues. The value which is set in Germany upon
the scientific pursuits of the English, the rapidity with which
translations are made in Germany of whatever English phi-
losophers of some reputation publish, shows abundantly that in
that count!*)' at least, in docta Germania^ a far greater value
is set upon the productions of English science than is done by
Mr. Herschel and his friends.

But if so much 'crude and undigested ' scientific matter dis-*
gusts Mr. Herschel in the English scientific journals, he must
be much more grievously offended at much more trash col-
lected in the pages of the two German scientific journals on
which he lavishes his praise. Germany has lost, in the person
of the late Professor Gilbert, her most able, skilful, and impar-
tial editor of a scientific journal ; and even Mr. Herschers
French friends will find it ver}' difficult to emulate that worthy
man in the meritorious task which he performed, so much to
his credit, during such a number of years, with so laudable a
perseverance.

We have no reason to doubt Mr. Herschel's assertion*, that
in England ' whole branches of Continental discoveries are
* unstudied, and, indeed, almost unknown even by name,' if
he means that Continental scientific researches are not so
rapidly known in England, as English discoveries are in Ger-
many and some other countries } but the same may be affirmed
of France, where whatever is done in Germany and elsewhere ^

is slowly penetrating, and even sometimes excluded. This igno- ;

ranee, however of foreign science cannot be attributed to want
of zeal, but to a defect in English education, which it was, per-
haps, the business of the London University to amend — I mean
the ignorance of foreign languages, which prevails both in
England and in France. Since the Latin has ceased, very hap-
pily in many respects, to be the common medium of inter-
course of the learned in every country, the scientific inter-
cour-se between different nations has become cramped by the

* P.riii.

O ON Tlie ALLEGED DECLINE OF

necessity of learning many foreign languages ; at least three or
four are indispensably necessary. In this respect the natives
of England labour under great difTiculties. The difference of
pronunciation of the English language from all those spoken
on the Continent, renders the task of learning a foreign tongue
particularly troublesome to an Englishman ; nor does he gene-
rally find in the public schools and academies of his own
country many opportunities of receiving, in this respect, regu-
lar and solid instruction. The consequence is, that few Eng-
lishmen learn enough of a foreign language to enable them to
converse freely with the natives, and to read, without great
exertion, the writings of Continental authors. There are
countries in Europe where no young men could think of
studying medicine, mathematics, or natural science with the
help of Latin only, and without beingprepared, before entering
the university, with a sufficient knowledge of German, English,
and French. Many, indeed, are masters enough of Italian to
read with ease and pleasure any scientific book in that lan-
guage, whilst I have known others attain a tolerable degree of
proficiency in the Danish, Swedish, or Spanish ; but in Eng-
land, the number of those who acquire a smattering of French
is very small, and still smaller is the number of those who
know enough of German to read a book in that language with-
out considerable trouble.

Anpther cause of the ignorance of foreign scientific labours,
is the high price in England of foreign hooks, in consequence
of an importation duty. This real and intolerable impediment
to the diffusion of knowledge exists, though not in the same
degree, iiwotber countries ; despotic Russia, however, is said
*to be free from it, England may, perhaps, expect from its
present Chancellor, who likes to ' see the schoolmaster abroad,*
the radical reform of so glaring an abuse.

Mr. Herschel complains 'that the English are dropping

• behind in most sciences — that they gave over the race in

• mathematics — that in chemistry the case is not much better,

• and that few sciences would not offer similar remarks*.*
Thus Mr. Babbao;e concludes that science is declining in
England, because the Metropolitan Encyclopaedist hazards
some loose complaints, of which we have already disposed*

• P. viii.

I
•I

SCIENCE IN ENGLAND. V

Sir Hum])hry Davy complains ofthe litlle interest which noble-
men take in science, and ofthe necessity which compels many
persons* inclined to scientific research, to look for other means
of sustenance ; but both the evils of which Sir Humphry com-
plains do not belong to England alone. Nowhere noblemen
care much for science, and pecuniary wants deter many all over
Europe from pursuing a scientific career. No great penetra-
tion is wanted to see merit struggling with want and poverty in
ever}' country in the world ; and, perhaps, it might be said that
science has a better chance in England than elsewhere of
securing an honest independence to its possessor. Dr. Wol-
laston, by his scientific exertions, procured himself that pecu-
niary supply without which the greatest genius and the ignorant
are alike unable to support themselves. Now, I will tell Mr.
Babbage, that in no country Dr. WoUaston, unassisted by
kingly favour, could have been able to earn by his scientific
discoveries that independence which gave him the necess.iry
leisure to apply all his mental force to the pursuits of science.
I know such countries where the high-minded Wollaston might
have been obliged to fawn and bow in the ante-room of some
lawyer in office, where his discoveries would have been sub-
milted to the examination and criticism of some official under-
ling ; of having his writings and experiments appreciated by
those who neither can conduct an experiment nor weigh the
force of an argument ; and after submitting to all these indig-
nities — after having felt the full weight of the insolence of
office, he might have had the humiliation to see preferred to
his just claims the unceasing importunity and the shameless
effrontery of the impudent quack and of the subservient
sycophant. This, I will tell Mr. Babbage, is the real
state of scientific men in those countries whose manner of
managing scientific concerns he afiects to rate so much
above that of his own country, and nisi exempla essent odiosa^
we might bring convincing proofs of the truth of our asser-
tion from the scientific histor}' of almost every country in
Europe.

But it is said, ^ England is backward in some branches of
' science ;* it may be so : it is as difficult for a nation as for an
individual to be equally preeminent in every department. Ma-
thematics are more particularly pointed out as that part of

^ i

10 ON THE ALLKGKD DECLINE OF

science in which Mr. Herschel says that • England has given
' over a hopeless race.' But has not England a right to ask
both Mr. Herschel and Mr. Babbage, Why do you both give
over the race? — ^You, with Mr. Ivory and a few others, are the
men who ought not to give over the race, and Englishnien
will not consider a race hopeless in which persons of your age
and abilities are engaged. Is the race to be given up whilst
La Place himself proclaimed Mr. Ivorj* one of the first mathe-
maticians of Europe ; whilst another Frenchman (I believe it
was ^I. Arago) said, that of all philosophers the late Dr. Young
was one who excelled most in the application of sublime ma-
thematics to physical and astronomical questions. But whilst
Messrs. Herschel and Babbage thus think of ^ giving over the
race,' let us look at those against whom they are likely to be
matched, in order to ascertain whether there is just cause for
such despondency.

La Grange and La Place, the greatest geometricians of their
time, exist no more. The sceptre of geometry was wielded
by both with equal power, like two Roman emperors occupying
the throne of the world at the same time. That sceptre de-
scended into their hands from those of Huyghens, Newton,
Leibnitz, the Bernouillis, and Euler; and thus Holland, Eng-
land, Germany, Switzerland, each in its turn possessed the
greatest geometrician of the age. ^Vas it too much that France
and Italy should have their turn ? But, unfortunately for the
latter country, M. de la Grange spent one half of his life in
Berlin and the other in France. At present, since the cele-
brated author of the * Disquisitiones Arithmeticse' rose to
such fame, the sceptre of geometry would seem to belong again
to Germany ; and indeed, as matters now stand, there does
not appect^ to exist the slightest reason for giving over the race
as * hopeless,' whilst such men as Mr. Ivory, Mr. Herschel, and
Mr. Babbage are in the full force of their talent. In France,
M. Legendre is very old ; the venerable Lacroix has done
more than any other living man for the diffusion of anal}'tical
science : we see no one at present in France but M. Poisson
who could enter the lists of the race. I do not perceive, I
repeat it, the least necessity for giving it over.

It can certainly not be denied, that for many years, works
as the *. Lemons sur le Calcul des Fonctions,* the * Mechanique

»-•

i-.^

BCIEN'CB IN ENGLAND. II

Celeste,' and the ^ Mechanique Analytique/ were not published
in England. No new branch of matheinalics« no * G^om^trie
Descriptive' was discovered, and it w*ould be unjust and unwise
to subtract anything from the merit of the French mathemati-
cians. But I consider it worse than injustice to contend, as
Mr. Babbage does, that England is so far behind. The man-
ner, certainly, in which mathematics are studied and used in
France and in England is entirely different, and it does not
appear quite so evident in which country mathematical science
is turned to a better account

Fashion, to a certain extent, prevails in the affairs of every
countrj*, but it predominates chiefly in France. At the time
of the French Revolution it so happened, by the exertions of
D' Alembert, Clairaut, Condorcet, and others, that of all sciences
mathematics were the most fashionable. Some of the leaders
of the Revolution — Condorcet, Carnot, Monge — were great ma-
thematicians, and contributed with all their power alike to the
overturn of the state and the progress of mathematics. With
this view the Ecole Normale was founded, which, though of
short duration, was perhaps of more utility towards the exten-
sion of mathematical knowledge, than all the universities of . |:
Europe together. It was there that La Place, La Grange, and
Monge were lecturers, and men like Lacroix among the Ij
hearers. The study of classics having been in a great measure
abolished by the French Revolution, mathematics were substi-
tuted in its stead ; and it thus happened that a number of ma*
thematicians, unusually great, were scattered over the soil of *
France, and every one thought himself capable defaire de$ x,
as they themselves called it, upon any given subject.

But most of these investigations were all theoretical, and
practical applications were foregone in almost every instance.
In France it seemed a constant rule that no one could usefully
and practically apply mathematical science, unless he ascended
first, not from ' Euclid's Elements,' for these were long for-
gotten, but from some modern elementary book on geometry
and algebra to the summit of analytical science. Once arrived
there, he might, if he pleased, descend, and take by the way
such applications of science as he thought fit; but, accustomed
to the pure air and bright sky of these higher regions, it was
scarcely lo be expected that he would come down to what was

12 ON THE ALLEGED DECLINE OF

considered of iDfinitely less value. The consequence of this
state of things has been, that the calculus has been applied to
the solutions of problems for which the Elements of Euclid
Ti'ould have been quite sufficient. No question of optics, astro-
nomy, or mechanics could be treated without calling in the
intervention of the integral calculus ; no bridge was built with-
out its assistance ; and even sometimes no two thermometers
were compared without some pages of analysis.

Mechanics, in particular, do not seem accessible, according
to the tenets of the French school, to any man not well versed
in sublime analysis ; and when French authors condescend to
give some elementary notions on that subject, it is generally
done in so unsatisfactory a manner, that it would appear that
it w*as only intended to show the utmost contempt for the illi-
terate readers for w*hom such explanations could be useful.
Thus many branches of applied mathematics became inacces-
sible, and were left unstudied by many who most stood in need
of them, and I humbly submit that this method has had a most
pernicious effect in France. Hence it arises that many have
acquired a profound knowledge of the higher branches of ma-
thematics — that a greater number became more or less versed
in the fluxionary calculus — whilst the more elementary part
of mathematics, which serves for every day's use, which leads
to the most useful applications, is far less difiused in France
than in England, In the former country, elementary geometry,
algebra, trigonometry, are not considered as important in them-
selves, and as things fit for immediate application, but only as
the necessary steps by which we may arrive at the higher
departments of analytical science. In England no one has
rendered himself master of the common rules of arithmetic but
he thinks of turning his knowledge to some account ; and, aided
by that ingenuity of which Englishmen seem to possess a greater
share than other nations, his scanty stock of information will
often help him to some useful discovery, or some ingenious
mechanical contrivance, at which the Frenchman, encumbered
with the artillery of his mathematical learning, could never
arrive.

As an illustration of what I have said of the manner in which
mathematics are studied in France, let us compare a French
and an English author on mechanics — let us select for that

7*1

SCIENCE IN KNCiLAND. 13

purpose the treatise of M. Poisson and that of Dr. Olinthus
Gregorj'. The former is certainly written in a masterly man-
ner ; nothing can be more elegant, more mathematically concise
and correct, than the method by which proposition after pro-
position is disposed, deduced from each other, and demonstrated j
with great strictness ; but nothing practical is to be found there, >
nothing of what may occur to-day or to-morrow, no allowance j
whatever for that numerous class of readers who are doomed
to perpetual ignorance of sublime analysis, nothing of what
may guide the practical man, no description of any machine,
any engine— even the theory of what are called the mechanical
powers, is rejected in the appendix. Perhaps it may be said, }
that the knowledge of these more elementary parts may be
acquired by the study of other books, but what French books
are calculated to suit the purpose? Are we to take Mongers
Statics ? — a ca[)ital little book, indeed, but in which the same
want of everything which is practical prevails throughout.
Besides, Monge treats only of statics; and thus, for all subjects
in which motion is concerned, we should be obliged again to
refer to some other work.

Dr. Olinthus Gregory's work, though it should not be taken
up by one unacquainted w*ith mathematics, is far more acces-
sible and far more useful to the greatest class of readers. The
subject is treated not in so purely a scientific manner, but more
calculated to afford that information which is most wanted. A
man after studying Poisson may scarcely know a wheelbarrow
from a steam-engine ; but any one who has gone through Dr.
Gregor}'*s book may have acquired as much of mechanical
information as will enable him to understand most subjects
connected with that most important department of science.
Another English work to which it would be difficult to find an
equal in French literature, is Professor Robison's ' Mechanical
Philosophy.* This capital book can certainly not pretend to
be a complete treatise of science, being compounded from
various articles of an encyclopsdia ; but for close reasoning
and an able exposition of the subject in all its bearings, it may
confidently challenge competition.

Professor Leslie's ' Natural Philosophy* contains also that
useful elementary mechanical information for which you look
in vain in French books. Let Professor Leslie's first volume

Mifei

14 ON THE ALLCGKD DECLINE OF

be compared to ^hat M. Biot has in his * Precis El^mentaire
de Physique/ and it will appear at once how far superior the
mechanical part is treated by the former.

Many other instances might be produced to show that ma-
thematics are differently studied and treated id France and in
England, and from this it does not follow that they are better
studied in the former than in the latter country. Even in
France itself, a notion exists that the sublime analysis had been
too exclusively adopted ; and complaints are not un frequent,
that some of the most distinguished pupils of the Polytechnic
School were found miserably deficient in the'practical part of
their callings. It was frequently urged that the applications of
the higher parts of mathematics occurred but seldom with
officers of engineers and artillery ; but that other, though less
elevated notions, were continually required in persons whose
life was entirely to be spent in practical applications. With
this view, two very distinguished pupils of the old Polytechnic
School} Messrs. Olivier and P^clet, attempted, in 1829, to
form an establishment calculated for the education of those
who wanted to acquire that useful and practical education
which is not afforded by the Polytechnic School.

Another circumstance connected with the manner in which
science is treated in France and in England, comes in for its
share in the explanation why such works as the* M^chanique
Celeste,' the <M6chanique Analytique,' &c. were written in
France and not in England. It is this — ^that the principle of the
division of labour is more acted upon in France than in Eng-
land. In France, a mathematician understands mathematics,
and nothing else ; a mineralogist may be very ignorant of every
other branch of science ; and they actually had an astronomer
of great renown » whose mathematical knowledge did not ex-
tend beyond the rules of arithmetic*. Chemists, botanists,
naturalists, are generally exceedingly ignorant of mathematics
and natural philosophy. Burckhardt, the astronomer, when
he first came to Paris, wrote to Baron de Zach, how much he
was astonished, on a visit to the obser\'atory, to hear La Grange
ask from Lalande an explanation of the use of the zenith sec-
tor with the mural quadrant. A German professor, adds he,

* Messitr.

• CIKNCE IN ENGLAND.

U-*-

"would scarcely have done this. And why ? — Because a Ger-
man professor of mathematics would have considered it dis<*
graceful to be utterly ignorant of the use of astronomical
instruments ; but in France, a mathematician does not think
himself more concerned about the implements of the astrono-
mer than the schoolmaster thinks of the tools of the carpenter
or the joiner. It is scarcely necessary for me to add that
there are many and honourable exceptions, but in general this
rule holds good, and every one in France looks exclusively to
his own department.

In England the case is totally different, and men of science
take a more general interest in branches unconnected with the
object of their immediate research. In France it would be
impossible to find a chemist who had a particular turn for
astronomy, or who applied himself to the improvement of nau-
tical instruments. Dr. WoIIaston was alike familiar with the
use of his admirable minute laboratorjs and with the telescope
and the transit, and even on his death-bed he took care that
the rate of his chronometer was duly ascertained. No French
civil engineer thinks of constructing, for his own use and
amusement, an equatorial like that which was made by the
celebrated Smeaton. Even both the highly gifted individuals
who gave rise to these observations, both Mr. Uerschel and Mr.
Babbage, furnish an incontrovertible proof of the powers of a
mighty mind to apply itself successively and successfully to
different branches of science. In France Mr. Herschel or
Mr. Babbage would have selected some particular department
in which they would have concentrated all their powers, bat
they never would have thought of ranging, as chance or op«
portunity directed, through the fields of optics, mineralogy,
mathematics, mechanics, and astronomy. Mr. Babbage, had
he been a Frenchman, might have written a standard book on
mechanics, but he could never have thought of inventing that
wonderful calculating engine which it must be the wish of e\*ery
lover of science to see him bring into use and perfection.

In England the well-known rule of Tuliy is more acted
upon — ^ Omnes artes quae ad humanitatem pertinent, habent
quoddam commune vinculum, et quasi cognatione quadam
inter se continentur.' In France the practice is quite different.
The question now may be, which principle is better; and we

{

16 ON TIIK ALLRGKD DECLINE OF

can do no better than refer it to the decision of Mr. Herschel
and Mr. Babbage themselves. They may decide whether they
ought not to be restricted to one particular branch ; whether it
would not be better that they should both be prohibited from
treating in turn an optical, a mineralogical, and an astronomical
subject In >vhichc\er way they may decide, it can scarcely be
doubted, that, in the higher departments of mathematics, the un-
divided attention of a {>owerful genius will be essentially benefi-
cial, and that the application occasionally bestowed on other un-
connected scientific pursuits must certainly lessen the chance of
seeing such works as the ' Mechanique Celeste,' and the ' M^-
chanique Analytiqne' brought to light. Therefore, if the French
really surpass the British in the production of mathematical
works of the first class, it cannot be attributed to any deficiency
of genius in the latter, but to the different manner in which
science is cultivated in the two countries.

' In chemistr}'/ continues Mr. Herschel, ' the case is not
much better.' But to us foreigners, it appears hardly just to
complain of the state of chemistr}% when the losses of Davy and
Wollaston are still so recent. With the exception of Berze-
lius, whose mind» however, is of a quite difierent turn, we will
ask Mr. Herschel what Continental chemist can be compared
to the two eminent men whom England has to lament?

Mr. Babbage complains of the system of education followed
in the English universities*. On this we have little tcT say— >
not that we are prepared to give a ready assent to all his as-
sertions oo this subject, but because we do not possess suffi-
cient information about the real state of English universities.
Most of the English institutions seem of so particular a nature,
and are so blended with other subjects totally diSerent from
what exists in other countries, that it would be unwise io a
foreigner to give an opinion on matters which he cannot be
expected to understand. Mr. Babbage throws oulpsome hints
how some of the abuses of which he complains might be
amended, and how studies might be conducted in better chan-
nels, but on these we must also abstain from declaring our
opinion. But this certainly is a principle firmly entertained
on tlie Continent, — that the difiusion of knowledge is far better
promoted by having the sciences taught in the universities by
first-rate professors than by any uniyersitarian regulations. In

♦P. 3.

^ #*

SCIENXB IN ENGLAND. 17

this, as in many other things, the best plan seems to be to let
things take their natural level, and not interfere in every parti-
cular with legislatory provisions. In France, D'Alembert justly
obser\'ed long ago, that men like Euler and Clairaut were fit
persons to write elementary mathematical books ; and one of
the causes of the extent of mathematical ^d chemical know-
ledge in France may be traced to the time when La Place and
La Grange were professors at the Ecole Normale, Monge at the
Polytechnic School, and Fourcroy at the Jardin des Plantes.
Nicolai, Encke, Gerlings, Struve, and others of the most cele-
brated astronomers of Germany, were the pupils, not of some
obscure lecturer, but of no less a man than Professor Gtiuss.
Sir Humphry Davy, by his lectures in the Royal Institution,
contributed essentially to the diffusion of chemistry. Lalande
was unwearied in the task of forming able pupils, and he spread
by his lessons the taste for astronomy all over the world. All
this prevents us from assenting, even on the high authority of
Galileo, to the proposition, that the powers of a first-rate man
are ill-bestowed on the duty of his public lectures. We are
willing, however, to allow, that in any other country Mr. Dal-
ton would have been called, most probably, to fill a chair iiK.
an university, and we are persuaded that his lectures would
have been excessively useful in promoting and extending che-
mical science in England. But foreigners do not wonder so
much in seeing the task of teaching a science in which he is so
well versed, imposed on a man of Mr. Dalton's abilities, but
they are astonished to see that persons actually invested with
scientific chairs in English universities dispense altogether with
the discharge of the duties of their stations. It is generally
understood that there are mathematical and astronomical pro-
fessors both at Oxford and Cambridge, who seldom or never
lecture, and who often do not reside at all at the university. I
am possibly blinded by continental prejudice, but to me this
appears a glaring abuse, which elsewhere would call for a
speedy remedy.

Mr. Babbage illustrates his argument by asking what would
have been the military renown of England, < if, with an equally
' improvident waste of mental power, its institutions had forced

* the Duke of Wellington to employ his life in drilling recruits,

• instead of planning campaigns?' To this we might answer,

1 'f

I !

■■i*l»W ^ww

18 ON THE ALLEGED DECLINE OF

omnis comparatio claudicaL But admitting the simile* it
would have been a great waste of mental power certainly, if
the ^ whole life* of the noble Duke had been employed * in
drilling recruits;* but it must be remembered that the great-
est captain of the last . century, Frederick the Great, amidst
all his various occupations, literary and political, always em-,
ployed part of his time in that exercise which Mr. Babbage
deems so far below the genius of a Wellington. Perhaps if
the illustrious British commander had contented himself during
the last years with superintending the discipline and drilling of
the Grenadier Guards, instead of figuring at the head of Go-
vernment, he would have rendered an essential service to his
country, not attended with a loss of that popularity which was.
once so deservedly bestowed upon the conqueror of Waterloo..
But we cannot help remarking that the case which Mr. Bab-
bage very justly reprobates actually exists in England. If
Lord Wellington had not been what he is, the son of the Earl
of Mornington, but the son of a farmer, a common soldier,
like the present King of Sweden, Ney, Lefebvre, Soult, Murat^^
Lannes, and similar men, he might have been, according to the
institutions of England, doomed for life to the drilling of re-
cruits, but he never could have been an officer. "^

Air. Babbage appears to hint at some connexion between
the genius of Napoleon and the state of science in France*.
He says that during ' the reign of that extraordinary man, the
' triumphs of France were not less eminent in science than they
• were splendid in arms.' Now it unfortunately so turns out '
that the ' principal triumphs of France in science* were
achieved all before the reign of Napoleon. The first and se-
cond parts of the < M^chanique Celeste* were published io 1799,
when Napoleon was in Egypt. The ' M^chanique Analytique'
was published in 178S, when no one thought of Napoleon. The
' Le9ons sur la Calcul des Fonctions* was certainly published
in his time in their present form f ; but the theory contained
in them was exposed by its author in his lectures at the Ecole
Normale, and the substance published as far back as 1796, in
which year Napoleon began his eventful career. The • Traits
de la Resolution des Equations Nu m^riques,' by the same author ;
the • Theorie des Nombres** of Legendre ; the * G^om^trie D^-

• P. 25. 1 1806.

SCIENCE IN ENGLAND.

/«

scriptivc ' ofMonge; the • Calcul Diflerentiel et IntegraF of La-
croix ; the ' Calcul des Derivations' of Arbogast, had all been
published before Napoleon's reign. The revolution in chemistry
by Lavoisier, as they call it, was complete, and its author lost
his head on the scaffold, before Napoleon. The degree between
Duukerque and Barcelona was measured, and the metrical
system established and completed, before his return from
£g}'pt The ' Statique Chimique' of BerthoIIet; the principal
works of Fourcroy, had all been published before that period.
However, we are not disposed to underrate what was done in
Napoleon's time ; we had the discoveries of the polarisation of
light, the immortal ' Calcul des Probabilitcs/ the 'Astronomy*
of Delambre, the 'History of Astronomy^ by the same, and
many more respectable productions. But nevertheless we flatly
deny that science flourished more under the sway of the Em-
peror or Consul than before or afterwards. In practical me-
chanics, whilst such rapid strides were making in England, the
state of things in France was miserable and ridiculous. When
the decennial prizes were to be distributed, they were awarded
to the miserable steam-engines of Pdrier; and the belier
hydraulique^ which even the genius of a Watt could not turn
to account, was precognized as a splendid discovery*. -^

It appears to be Mr. Babbage's wish that scientific men
might now and then be appointed to high offices, and he gives
a list of persons who attained, what he thinks, the favours of
fortune f • In treating this question, some distinction will be
required. It has been the almost invariable custom in all
countries, that persons filling high offices are taken from a
certain rank in society ; whenever another principle was adopt-
ed, it was in times of revolution, or in very extraordinary
cases. Now if it so happened that amongst the men of that
class from which public functionaries are usually taken, some
applied themselves to science, and were otherwise qualified for
ofiicial and honourable situations, certainly their scientific ac-
quirements could offer no impediment to their being so ap-
pointed. It is the count, the marquis, the baron, the minister
who is a philosopher ; but it is not the philosopher who,, on ac-
count of his philosophy, is raised to the rank of an ambassador,
or a count, or a baron, or a minister. Baron Wilhelm von

* Mr. Watt took out a patent for the water-ram in England.

t P. 27.
C 2

20 ON TUB ALLROED DECLINE OF

Humboldt, (or instance, notwithstanding bis station in life, and
although he is an ambassador, and was a member of the Con- %

gress of Vienna, cultivated philology, but certainly no man in
his sober senses will contend that he was appointed one of the
contrivers of the Holy Alliance because he was a philologist.
Alexander von Humboldt is a baron by birth, and certainly it
is highly creditable for the German nobility to have such an
illustrious individual amongst its ranks ; but for all that, we
cannot agree with Mr. Babbage, that the situation of cham- \ I

berlain to any king is a high public office. It is certainly com-
mendable in the king of Prussia to surround his person with
men like Humboldt, but the times are gone by in which the
functions of a chamberlain could be really honourable. lu the
country in which I was bom, it was formerly held that the
functions of a valet, be it to a king or to any other gentleman,
are those of a menial, and therefore cannot be held honourable
in themselves, although the office is often filled by very re- «. «

spectable persons. The thought, indeed, of Alexander von
Humboldt performing the duty of a chamberlain, which with
the Roman emperors was done by slaves, is sickening to our
feelings, and in my opinion ' they are sheep and calves that
seek out assurance in that.^ "^

With the present minister of Saxony, in the Hague, Baron
Lindenau, tbe case is nearly similar : it was not the astrono-
mer, but the man of high birth, who was raised by his king to
the rank of a minister (not of an ambassador, as Mr. Babbage
erroneously states) ; but the king of Prussia, Mr. Babbsge may c

rest assured, has not the least idea of sending either M. Bes-
sel or M. Encke on a foreign diplomatic mission. For the
sake both of science and of M. Lindenau himself, we must t

greatly lament this change. He certainly moves in a ■ more j

exalted sphere than at the obser\'atory of Seeberg, but still it
remains a matter of deep regret that an astronomer so skilful,
and so able a calculator, should merge in comparative obscu-
rity among the thousand diplomatists who crowd the several
European courts. The same may be said of Bishop Brinkley.
Our respect for the high dignitaries of the church is certainly
very great, but still we lament to see an astronomer of his emi-
nence called to duties which, exalted as they are, might be
performed by men of quite different and more common talent.

SCIENCE IN ENGLAND. 21

Still the instance of the right reverend bishop is a proof that
scientific eminence is no bar in England to obtain the highest
dignities.

We know too little of the two Italian noblemen of whom
Mr. Babbage speaks, to oSer any remark on their cases.

With the Marquis Ial Place, the Counts Camot and
Chaptal, and the Baron Cuvier, the case is widely different.
When Napoleon abolished the Republic, he endeavoured to
strengthen his new government by the co-operation of all the
men of talent whom he could bring over to his party. With
this view La Place was created a minister of the interior ; but so
far from its being found that a man ' does not make a worse
' minister because he has directed an observatory, or had
* added by his discoveries to the extent of our knowledge ofani-
' mated nature,' the author of the * Mdchanique Celeste' proved
quite inadequate to the task, and after a few months' trial it
became absolutely necessary to give him a successor. He was
then made, not President as Mr. Babbage erroneously states,
but Chancellor to that senate whose duty it was to watch the
conservation of the liberties of the French people. That the
office of keeping the liberties of France, under (ke reign of
Napoleon, was a sinecure, need scarcely be told ; it required
only in the chancellor the necessary abnegation to put his sig-
nature indiscriminately under any decree, however unjust or
oppressive. Indeed the chancellor of the senate was in fact its
secretary. How these functions can be accounted honourable *
I am at a loss to conceive — ^profitable they certainly were ;
for the salary of the chancellor was, I believe, 36,000 francs,
exclusive of the donations on foreign and conquered countries,
with which the Emperor used to reward his faithful followers.
Wealth and dignities, acquired at such a price, cannot be ob-
jects of envy in the eyes of a philosopher. In this case they
were the price of shame and degradation, and they ought not
to have excited the jealousy of a man like Mr. Babbage. In our
opinion, the humble dwelling where Mr. Ivory resides, and where
he, enjoys what Galileo's friend nam.ed la monarchia di se stesso,
is a place far more desen'bg of our respect than the splendid
residence of La Place in the palace of that senate whose base-
ness and servility taught Napoleon to despise the human race.
Even Frenchmen do not lay the same stress as Mr. Babbage

22 ON THB ALLEGED DECLINE OF

on the dignities which La Place enjoyed ander his imperial
master. Baron Fourrier, himself an eminent mathematician, •
thus expresses himself in the * Eloge Historique • of La Place,
which he pronounced in the Institute. * I could also, and perhaps

* I should recall to your memory the high political dignities with
' which La Place was invested, but this enunciation would be-

* long but indirectly to the object of this discourse. It is the

* great mathematician whose memory we celebrate. We have

* separated the immortal author of the < M^chanique Celeste'
' from all those incidental facts in which neither his fame nor

* genius are interested. Indeed, gentlemen, posterity, which
' has so many particulars to forget, will little care whether La
' Place was for a short time minister of a great state. What is

* of importance are — the eternal truths which he has discovered,

* the immutable laws of the stability of the world, and not the

* rank which he occupied during some years in the senate
^ called conservative.*

It was neither for his scientific merit, nor by his birthright,
that Carnot was raised to the rank of a lieutenant-general^ a
count, and a minister. Before the French Revolution he was a
military man, he became a member of the Convention, and of
the well-known ' Comit^ de Salut Public,' and he was amongst
those who voted the death of Louis XVI. Aflerwards he was
one of the five. Directors of the Republic, from which place he
was expelled by one of those minor revolutions so frequent in
France. When Napoleon was to be made First Consul, Carnot
was one of the very few who refused their vote — ' Non,' said
he, ' dusse-je m'exposer k la proscription.' For this free
exercise of his right, and as a reward for his independence,

* the extraordinary man, during whose reign the triumphs of

* France were so eminent in science,' punished the author of
the * G^om^trie de Position,' and of the most clear view of the
principles of the difierential calculus hitherto brought before
the public, with neglect and poverty. During a period of many
years, whilst others were made dukes, counts, and barons, not
as a reward of their science, but of their subser\'iency, Carnot
was left to subsist on his pension as a member of the Institute
of fifteen hundred francs, or sixty pounds. It was not expe-
dient at that time to say much in praise, not of the man, but
even not of his works, for what praise could he deber\e who

- "»i«i«- 1

■^■Wl

SCIENCE IN ENGLAND.

had not voted * for the extraordinary man ?' In the report
to the Emperor on the never- awarded decennial prizes, in
which so many ordinary productions are extolled to the skies,
the works of Carnot are mentioned in terms of no very high
commendation : they are called merely * des productions esti-
mables/ and the preference to them is given to La Croix's

* Calcul Difil^reDtiel et Integral,' which, after all, contains
nothing original. It was only after the disasters of Russia and
Leipsic that the military, not the scientific, talents of Carnot
were wanted ; he was entrusted with the defence of Antwerp,
and raised at once from obscurity to the rank of a count and
a general ; and subsequently, during the Hundred Days, he
was a minister, not of war, but of the interior.

Mr. Babbage, who kindly informs us* that La Place is
author of the ' M^hanique Celeste,' and M. Cuvier of the

* Trait6 des Ossemens Fossiles,' omits to mention the works of
Carnot. We will endeavour to supply the deficiency, and
enumerate the principal ones ; they are —

* Reflections sur la M^taphysique du Calcul Diff^rentieU'

* Geometric de Position.*

' Relations entre Cinq Points pris dans TEspace.'
' Principes G^neraux de PEquilibre et du Mouvement.'
Of Count Chaptal, minister of the interior, we have little to
say : whatever may be his abilities as a statesman, his merits
in chemistiry are too insignificant to deserve the honour of being
ranked with La Place, Carnot, and Cuvier. But Mr. Babbage
omits the names of many other «atan5, who, in Napoleon's
time, were loaded with titles and pensions : we will add some
more to his list, all of whom bartered their conscience for
wealth and influence :—

Le Comte de Fontanes, S6nateur Grandmattre de TUni-
versit^, a poet, and, it is said, one of the most eloquent men of
France. He had the misfortune, by some unhappy trick of
memory, to apply to the Due de Bordeaux the greater part of
the same speech which he formerly made for the King of
Rome.

Le Comte de Lacep^de, author of a Continuation of BuSbn,
Grand Chancellier de la Legion d'Honneur.

* P. 37.

24 ON THE ALLEGED DECLINE OF

I« Comte Volney, Senateur, author of the well-known
anti-religious book, ' Les Ruines.**

Gaspard Monge, Comte de Peluse, author of the ' G4om4tiit
Dfacriptive,* S^nateur.

Le Comte Berthollet, author of the * Statique Cbimiqae,*
S^nateur, &c.

Messrs. Monge and BerthoUet enjoyed the honourable sta-
tion of being the Commissaries in Italy for the spoliation of
her museums and works of art ; their merit penetrated so far
as to induce ' the independent voters' of the colony of Cayenne,
almost entirely consisting at the time of emancipated negroes
and men of colour, to give them a seat in the * Conseil des
Cinq Cents.*

Mr. Babbage, of course, mentions Cuvier, but we will leave
it to the countr}'men of the noble Baron to decide, whether his
political career and conduct added in the least to his widely
spread fame : from motives of respect we forbear adding any-
thing to this observation.

Mr. Babbage appears to suggest* that the great number of
members of the Royal Society, compared to those of the
French Institute, makes the distinction less valuable* To this
we must answer that the Royal Society is equally different from
the Institute as the French constitutions are from the English;
so that it is quite impossible to draw any rational comparison
between the two bodies. In our opinion it would be impossible
to establish a Royal Society in France, and the regulations of
the French Institute would appear alike revolting and injurious
to the feeling of an Englishman. What would Mr. Herschel
or Mr. Babbage say, if the speeches made from the chair, on
the delivery of the King's or Copley Medals, were to be submit-
ted to the approbation of the Home Secretary ? What would
Mr. Babbage's feelings be, if no one could be admitted in the
Royal Society unless his choice was approved by the court — if
members might be ejected because their political opinions were
objected to — or if a man like Chateaubriand was refused admis-
sion because he scorned publicly to make the apology of one
whom he considered both as a regicide and a fratricide t ?

A very material difference between the Royal Society and

♦ P. 30. f Ch^nicr.

SCIENCB IN ENULANO. 25

the Institute consists in this, that the fellows of the former pay
for their admission, whilst the members of the latter enjoy a
pension. Now, there are at present 685 fellows of the Royal
Society, who used to pay about 41. a year for the honour of
their fellowship, making in all an aggregate sum of 2140L, or
68,500 francs. The members ofthe French Institute receive,
or received formerly, each 1500 francs, making 10,250 francs
of the public money. Now, we will ask Mr. Babbage, in which
country the honour of belonging to the first scientific society
is held in greater estimation — in that in which the fellows pay
the honour with 68,000 francs, or there where they receive
10,250 francs, and the honour as an addition into the bargain ?

But although France has a population of thirty-two millions
and England of twenty-two millions, and notwithstanding the
high, flourishing state of science in the former country, we
would undertake to insure the utter impossibility of finding seven
hundred persons in France willing and capable of contributing
for the benefit of science, and for the honour of belonging to a
scientific body, an annual sum ofSOOOZ.

Mr. Babbage favours us with a table* of the costs of fellow-
ship of difierent learned societies ; it would have been very
curious if he had stated the annual sum thus contributed both
by the English and French. nation towards the encouragement
and benefit of science, and from the result a fair estimate
might be drawn in which of the two countries science is held in
the greatest honour. We are not all afraid that, in this case,
the odds would be in favour of England. To imagine that there
are six hundred Frenchmen amongst thirty-two millions willing
and capable to pay 50/., or 1250 francs, in order to become
members of a learned society, appears to us an idea so very
ludicrous, that we cannot Jielp smiling at the very thought

Mr. Babbage compares the number of dukes, marquises,
counts, barons, &c., members of the Institute, to the number
of British peers^ baronets, and knights, members of the Royal
Society. But whilst he states the number of titled persons
members of the Institute, he only brings in his account such
ofthe British nobility as have contributed to the Philosophical
Transactions. Amongst those papers one is written by a peer,

• p. 43.

•1'

.flit I II ■"

26 ON TUB ALLEGED DECLINE OP

five by baronets, and five by knights, but he does not state
what the French nobility has contributed to the * M^moires
de rinstitut.' In order to supply this deficiency, we have
looked over the contents of these Mcmoires ; but in doing this
we must beg leave to exclude the revolutionary nobility, the
dukes, the counts, and barons of Napoleon's creation^ because
we conceive it would be scarcely fair to compare them to the
peers of the British realm. But alas ! of the old French
nobility not one has written a line in the ' M6moires de I'ln-
stitut' ever since the restoration of 1813 ; and excepting * La
Place and Andreossy, no one, either of the new or old nobility,
above the rank of a baron, has written anything in all the
volumes of the first class of the Institute. In England, Mr.
Babbage found at least one peer a contributor to the * Philo-
sophical Transactions' — in France there was none. What,
then, becomes of the argument ?

Another argument is picked up by Mr. Babbage in a French
newspaper*, certainly no effusive source of evidence and truth.
The Duke of Buccleugh is introduced in the French paper to
his readers as * Chef de la Maison de Walter Scott.' Nothing
can be more natural than this, for certainly the very existence
of a noble duke of that name was, and is still, totally un-
known in Europe ; but although science, and perhaps the fine
arts and literature, are said to be declining in England, that
island contains such men whose names, though not adorned
with any title, are known all over the civilized world. You
would vainly ask in Germany, in France, in Russia, in Sweden,
in Holland, in Denmark, whether any one knew anything about
my Lord So-and-So; but the names of % Davy, Wollaston,
Herschel, Babbage, Dalton, Kater, BrewsterrDaniell, Leslie,
Scott, Faraday, Lawrence, Ashley Cooper, Ivory, Home, Bums,
Watt, Maudsley, South, Brinkley, Young, Troughton, are
quite familiar to every scientific man all over the globe, and
there can therefore be nothing strange in the observation, that
some obscure peer is a kinsman to one of the most celebrated
authors of the age. Thus, an English magazine or paper
might have said, and perhaps has said, naturally enough, that
the Marquis de Yillette was a relative to Voltaire, that

• P. 34.

28 ON THE ALLEGED DECLINE OF

cures during Napoleon's reign. Supposing the English minis-
try thought it their interest to bring scientific members into
Parliament, would Mr. Babbage consent to sell his vote and
his conscience for a pension of 1200Z. or 1500/. ? Still this
was what La Place, La Grange, Lacepede, Monge, Berthollet,
&c., constantly did, and we must not expect to buy at a
cheaper rate the honour and reputation of men, of such dis-
tinction.

But if we come to emolument merely scientific, it will be *, ^

found far less in France than in England. A professor of the
College de France had, I believe, 5000 francs, or 200Z. Such
was the salary of Lalande, Delambre, Biot, Poisson, La Croix,
Ampire, &c. Mr. Babbage would call this * to exercise the
talents of a philosopher for the paltry remuneration of a derk * ;'
and I will add that this shows that a man^s honour, supposing
it worlh buying, fetches a higher price in the market than bis •

talents. If we wish to know what the emolument of science is . a a

in France, let us recollect the instance . of Legendre, certainly
a real, deserving, and meritorious man of science. By an ar-
bitrary act of ministers, he was deprived of a scanty pension^
his all — and for what ? Because he did not choose to vote for
a ministerial candidate (br member of the Institute! The
pension upon which Mr. Ivory has retired is certainly not very
high, but it is his i>wn, and cannot be taken from him by any
minister. If Mr. Babbage had thought proper to refuse
his vote to the Duke of Sussex, on a late contested election,
would he have deemed it a happy circumstance if Grovemment «

had had it in its power to deprive him of his chair at Cam-
bridge ? Still such is the situation of all the French savans :
they hold their places during pleasure.

But before we leave this financial question, we would beg
leave to obsen*e that, from what comes under the eyes of the
public, one would not think the English men of science so ill
oflTin a financial point of view. Sir William Herschel and
Dr. Wollaston had, it would appear, not much beyond science
to support them ; they, however, both left a handsome, and
what elsewhere would be considered a large, fortune. Sir
Humphry Davy, when he first began to lecture in the Royal
Institution, had a salary of one hundred guineas, an apartment,

♦ P. 38.

SCIENCE IN ENGLAND.

D'Alembert's unnatural mother was the Marquise de Tencin,
that La Priucesse de Cbimay once was the beautiful and accom-
plished consort of the murdering terrorist Tallien. But it
would be unfair to draw from this the conclusion, that old
French noblemen were proud to have poets for their relationsi
that marchionesses were highly flattered by giving illegitimate
birth to eminent mathematicians, and that continental princes
felt themselves honoured by marrjdng the widowed consorts of
bloody terrorists.

But although Mr. Babbage objects to the term ^ wealthy*
applied to a nobleman*, he is far from disliking wealth in the
hands of men of science. The vivitur parvo bene, the aurea
mediocritas, the sit mihi quod nunc est^ etiam minus, has very
Httle weight with the philosopher ; the question at once be-
comes one of pounds, shillings, and pence^ and Mr. Babbage
proceeds to value, not the merit, but the income of French and
English scientific men« We entertain some doubts, however,
as to the solidity of the basis of his calculation, the result of
which appears so much in favour of the French.

In order to ascertain the emoluments of science in both
countries*, Mr. Babbage requested a foreigner to write down
the names of six Englishmen best known in France for their
scientific reputation. Mr. Babbage wrote down the names of
six Frenchmen, and these notes having been interchanged/ the
probable annual income of each individual >vas added to his
name. The result was an income of 1200Z. per annum for the
six Frenchmen whom Mr. Babbage had named. Iiuthis is
some obscurity : does Mr. Babbage mean to say that the six
savans together had an income of 1200/., or did his friend
allow that sum to each of them ? Such men as La Place, La
Grange, Lacep&de, Cuvier, and Fontanes, enjoyed certainly a
high income; the former were senators whose salary was
36,000 francs, or 1500Z. ; but it is a glaring error to call this
salary an emolument of science. It was the price of the shame
and degradation incurred by these men for giving their silent
vote and sanction to any of Napoleon's decrees, however op-
pressive ; it was the price for which the silence and connivance
was bought of these mock commissions for the liberty of the
subjcctf and the liberty of the press, which subsisted as sine-

♦ P. 34.

(

SCIENCE IN ENGLAND. 29

and coals and candles. He afterwards got 100/. for lectures
from the Board of Agriculture ; his salary at the Institution
was increased, and at Dublin he was paid five hundred guineas
for a course of lectures. Now we would venture to affirm that
in all France no human being could clear half that sum by
lecturing on any rational subject. A sleight-hand performer,
a dancer, a singer, might certainly go a great way^ but a lee- ,
turer on chemistry could never succeed to this extent.

Mr. Babbage, who takes so great an interest about what is
done in France, and who seems rather inclined to propose
their institutions as objects of imitation to the English, should
have'given us some further particulars about the learned so-
cieties in the former country. The great number of such so-
cieties existing in England argues certainly in favour of the zeal
with which science is prosecuted in that bland. It would have
been curious to examine what France had to oppose to this ;
and since Mr. Babbage delights in financial computations, we
regret that he has not favoured us with a balance-sheet of what
is yearly paid by British and French individuals for the ad-
vancement of science.

Mr. Babbage, severe as he is with respect to other societies,
mentions the Astronomical Society with due and deserved
praise. We may safely affirm that it would be absolutely im-
possible to have an astronomical society in France^ for the
very simple reason that there are no astronomers except at the
Royal, or National, or Imperial Observatory^ and at Marseilles.
The extraordinary man certainly did nothing for astronomy ;
not one single instrument was added during his reign to the stock
of the Observatory — at least at the public expense ; for the circle
of Reichenbach was a present from La Place. Many private in-
dividuals in England possess a better collection of instruments
than those which, in Napoleon's time, were to be found in
the Imperial Observatory; and it would indeed be a mockery
to compare them to what exists in the Kensington Observatory.
But if the great observatory was thus left in a state of desti-
tution, it is a curious and real fact, that during the reign of the
* extraordinary man ' not one observatory was built, but many
were actually demolished, or otherwise rendered useless. We
must, however, prove this by facts. In or under the cupola of
the Luxembourg was an observatory, in which Lalande made

•i

m I

30 ON TUE ALLEGED DECLIKE OF

some observations ; this was suppressed since the Luxembourg
became a palace of the senate. M. Delambre had an obser*
vatory in the Rue deParaJis au Marais : since this excellent
astronomer became a treasurer of the Imperial University, and
had his lodgings translated to the Chef Lieu de TUniversitd,
near the Palais du Corps Legislatify the observatory became
vacant. Messier, becoming old and blind, had«no successor in
the Obsenatoire de la Rue des Mathurin Saint Jacques, and
the place where so many comets were detected actually tumbled ^; j^

in ruin. Lalande had no successor neither in the observatory »

of the College de France ; it was quite desert, and nothing but
an old useless transit in it. There was a small observatory in
the buildings of the Convent of Sainte Genevjive, erected by
Pingr^, who was a canon of that church ; M. le Chevalier, known
by his voyage dans la Traade, and his subsequent discussions
with the late Major Renneli in 1612, had the use of th&t obser*
vatory, but it has since been taken down. Lacaille had an ob-> a ^

servatory at the College Mazarin ou des Quatre Nations, part
of which .is how the Palace of the Institute. Since a long
time it had been without observer or instruments ; under Na^
poIeon*8 reign it was demolished. It is well known that La-
caille never used to illuminate the wires of his instruments.
The inner part of his observatory was painted black ; he ad*
mitted only the faintest light io enable hkn to see his pendulum
and his paper : his left eye was devoted U> the service of look-
ing to the pendulum, whilst his right eye was kept shut* The
latter was only employed to look to the .telescope, and during «

the time of observation never opened but for this purpose.
Thus the faintest light made him distinguish the wires, and he
very seldom felt the necessity of illuminating them. Part of
these blackened walls were visible long after the demolition of
the observatory, which took place somewhat a^out 1811.

The two only observatories in Paris are the large observatory
and that of the Ecole Militaire, formerly occupied by the un fortu-
nate Dagelet ; he was succeeded by Michel le Fran9ai8 Lalande,
and it was there that he made his catalogue of 50,000 stars,
which is little esteemed in France, but the value of which is
well known by German astronomers. Burckhardt came next,
and the observatory was then in possession of a mural qua-
drant of Bird, and a transit by Ramsden ; and I am not aware

SCIENCE IN ENGLAND.

that, in Napoleon's time, any addition was made to it. What
the situation of the observatory at Marseilles was at that time
I am unable to state ; it was then not yet occupied by the
zealous M. Gambart, and was then celebrated^ not for its
astronomer, but its steward or concierge^ M. Pons, well known
for the number of comets which he discovered.

If to this we compare what exists and what is done in Engr
land, the Observatories of Greenwich, Kensington, Bedford,
Dublin, Armagh, Cambridge, &c., and the collections of many
private individuals, we do not see that, in this respect, Eng-
land, with her Astronomical Society, her astronomers, and
observatories, is behind France.

Another circumstance proves how little Napoleon did for
astronomy. La Place and some other leading members of the
Institute begged very hard of him to allow a perpendicular to
the meridian to be measured in France-— during his reign their
wish was never obtained.

In the time of Napoleon there was a source of profit and
emolument opened for some scientific men who enjoyed the
favour of the sovereign. It was the ' Universitarian Retribu-
tion,' a taxation which exists to this day, but of which loud and
just complaints arose of late. This retribution is nothing but a
duty levied upon all those who receive any instruction whatever.
No one is allowed to learn to read, write, nor can frequent any
school, from the lowest to the university, without paying a duty
for it From the funds so collected some savans derive a con*
siderable income ; amongst others it was one of the sources
from which Baron Cuvier's profits arose. How such thin^
would be relished in England, and whether it is not better to
keep ' the schoolmaster abroad' than to press down instruction
of every kind by taxation, I do not pretend to determine.

Sir James South, in his pamphlet on the Royal Society,
states that Napoleon called himself ' Protecteur de I'lnstitul
de France.^ We must beg leave to ask when and where he
did call himself so ? His title certainly was, ^ Protecteur de
la Confederation du Rhin,' but of a ' Protectorate of the In*
stitute,' and of his assuming that title, we never yet heard on
the Continent. Far that he should derive a title from the In-
tilute, the Institute had its title from him. It was styled
* L*Institut Imperial de France.' Again, I must ask Sir James

■i

32 ON THE ALLEGED DECLINE OF

South 9 when and where did Napoleon promise to hU savans
the telescope of Herschel, in case he should succeed in con-
quering England ? Though we do not rank among the pas-
sionate admirers of the ' extraordinary man/ it mu&t be said
that although in Vienna, Milan, Seeberg, Gotha, Naples,
Coimbra, &c., he fouqd obsenatories better furnished than
his own, he never despoiled them. The only instance of an
outrage of this kind was the burning of the twenty-seven feet
telescope of Schroter, at Lilienthal, by General Vandamme ;
but Vandamme was a Belgian, not a Frenchman.

With the domestic affairs of the Royal Society foreigners
can have no concern ; they must certainly regret to witness so
much rancour and bitterness. They may lament to see the
early friend and protector of Davy exposed to so much obloquy,
but the question itself must be left entirely to rest with those
who only are capable of judging its merits.

Among the means of encouraging science in England, Mr.
Babbage proposes the institution of an * order of merit* Does
Mr. Babbage imagine that Dr. WoUaston, or Dr. Maskeline,
or some such men, would have been more respected either at
home or abroad if, like the Russian, they bad half a dozen of dif-
ferent-coloured ribbons pending on his breast ? In almost every
country where such distinctions exist, one-half of the ribbons
are given to jobbing and patronage ; and, upon the whole, we
believe that the institution itself has an injurious tendency.
Such crosses and^badges are but too often the price for which -
honour and conscience are bought. These gaudy baubles are
the hooks and baits by whicn a prey may be allur^, which
could not be taken in any other way. The distribution of these
distinctions must of needs beloog to Government: how are its
members to judge of the different degrees of scientific merit ?
How can a minister know whether an astronomer is a deserving,
honest man, or whether he belongs to that numerous class of
forgers, cooks, trimmers, &c., whom Mr. Babbage so justly
brands and vows to execration ? Mr. Babbage does scarcely
allow to Government the capacity of choosing its own scientific
advisers— how will it be able to discern those who deserve the
* order of merit ? ' A well-meaning government, not wishing
to indispose any body, and attaching deservedly no great value
to these things, gives a decoration for the asking, or for the

J.-i;-'«r-

8CIKKCI: IN KNULAND.

slightest reason or recommendation. In this way such orders
get at every body's button-hole ; and it is not extraordinary on
the Continent to see a sleight-of-hand performer, a fiddler, or a
mountebank, decorated with some foreign order. Farinelli» a
celebrated castratoy was decorated by the King of Spain with
the military order of Calatrava ; Napoleon gave the order of
the Iron Crown, lacouronne defer,io Velluti, another casfrafo.
The consequence of all this must be naturally, that in such
countries where these distinctions exist, fools are very eager to
have them, and really meritorious men do not attach the slightest
value to them, and very often refuse them when they are ten-
dered. Thus the late Professor Van Swinden refused an order
offered to him by the King of Holland.

But in England there can scarcely exist any pretext for in-
stituting such an order ; there is no necessity that Government
should expressly allow certain persons the permbsion to wear
a toy attached to their button-hole. The King of England, if
he be inclined to science, and wishes to treat its professors
with distinction, may confer upon them the honour of knight-
hood, or of the baronetcy, as his late Royal Brother has done
upon Sir Humphry Davy, and as he himself very justly did
upon Sir James South. There can be little doubt, if once the
calculating engine is brought to perfection, but that we are
going to have a Sir Charles Babbage ; and we must seriously
lament, not for the sake of the men, nor of that of science, but
for the honour of Government, that we never had a Sir William
Wollaston, a Sir Thomas Young, and a Sir James Watt.

}

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•- .

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■f •"

•>

Tub MS. in English of the following series of arguments was
sent to me by the writer, an eminent scientific foreigner, in
consequence of a few'^remarks in our mutual correspondence
upon some receA {)ublications in England. Without being
considered as expressing an opinion on the subject either one
way or the other, I am still desirous of placing my friend's
reasons before the public, not merely because no one can
judge correctly who Bas heard but one side of a question, but
also as a great literary curiosity ; for all must allow that it is
an extraordinary circumstance for English character to be
attacked by natives and defended b*y foreigners.

I have scrupulously refrained from altering'the language;
preferring rather that a few quaint expressions should remain,
than (hat so distinctive a characteristic of its foreign origin a*
it at present possesses should be lost

For the clearer comprenension of certain passages, I ought
to say, that it has been in my possession at least four
months.

M. Faraday.

Augusty 1831.

-•v>.--^

,i#i-ivji-'j

Ol -70

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CECIL H. GREEN LIBRARY

STANFORD, CAUFORNIA 94305-600'

(415) 723-1493

All books may be recalled oFler 7 doys

DATE DUE

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